Easy-to-Grow Bulbs That Bloom

Daffodils provide blooms with little effort.

Planting bulbs lends a sense of Christmas-morning anticipation to your garden. In the chill days of fall you hide the lifeless-looking bulbs underground, then wait to see what present will be revealed in spring and summer. Once the bulbs are planted, the hard work is over. You'll be rewarded for your efforts with beautiful blooms. And many bulbs will bloom every year, with little extra effort on your part.

Allium

Related to onions, allium has a familiar onion smell and large purple blossoms. This is another good choice for a garden where browsing animals are a problem. Giant allium makes a good background planting, in front of a fence or wall, or behind shorter plants in the garden. Plant the bulbs in a sunny location in early spring with their tips 4 inches below the soil for blooming in late summer.

Colchicum

At a time when summer flowers are losing their glory, colchicum provides bright purple blooms to enliven the garden. Familiarly known as autumn crocus, colchicum grows from corms that resemble bulbs. Plant in summer for late summer or fall bloom. Place the corms about 4 inches from the surface of the soil.

Crocus

Crocus are among the first flowers to emerge in the spring. Plant these small bulbs with their tips about 2 inches below the surface. Plant in late September or early October.

Daffodils

Daffodils will often multiply on their own, or naturalize, to bloom spring after spring. Choose daffodils if you have a problem with deer or rodents in your garden, since most garden browsers don't like the taste of daffodils. Plant the bulbs approximately 4 inches below the surface in late September or early October.

Grape Hyacinth

With clusters of small purple flowers that bring to mind bunches of grapes, grape hyacinth, like daffodils, will naturalize in the garden. These small plants, from 6 to 12 inches high, make lovely border plantings along walkways or edging flower beds. Plant the bulbs 2 inches below the surface in the fall.

References

• Iowa State University Extension: Late-Summer and Fall Blooming Bulbs
• University of Vermont Extension: Bulbs for Spring Bloom
• Cornell University: Allium, Giant
• North Carolina State University: Colchicum Autumnale

Resources

• Purdue University Department of Horticulture: Flowering Bulbs