Spring Flower Bulbs
Simple Rules
You'll find that some rules are surprisingly simple. One such rule would be to plant bulbs in the full sunshine wherever possible.
Most Important Rule
You'll find that some rules are never thought to be important. The most important rule of growing bulbs is to grow the foliage first, the flowers will take care of themselves
Surprising Rules
Some rules to be just surprising. One of those might be not to water spring flower bulbs in the summertime.
Many of these come from areas where summer water is non-existent and they are genetically programmed for summer drought. When we overwater tulips for example because they are in annual flower beds, they often respond by rotting away in the excess water. Again, I highlight these in the bulb descriptions.
Chionodoxa sardensis
Corydalis solida
Corydalis solida
One of those small spring bulbs you should not hesitate to buy if you find it on a shelf somewhere.
Erythronium
Erythronium
or Dog's-tooth Violet is a wonderful woodland bulb for shade
or part shade. All are relatively easy to grow except for one that I'd
recommend you ignore until you've succeeded with the others.
Fritillaria
Fritillaria
are fine bulbs but have really stinky flowers. If you have a
well-drained location it might be a bulb you'd like to grow.
Fritillaria meleagris
Fritillaria meleagris and hybrids are the most popular of the "frits" and rightly so.
Hyacinthoides / Scilla
Hyacinthoides is the modern name for Scilla. Those wonderful bulbs are fantastic for
growing under shrubs.
Mixed Spring Flowering Bulbs
Ixiolirion
Ixiolirion tataricum is a sunny, hot and dry spot bulb that resents
moisture. A naturalizer if happy. Here's the details and a picture.
Leucojum or Summer Snowflake
Leucojum
or Summer Snowflake is a spring or early summer blooming bulb that
you might want in your garden. There are usually two varieties sold -
and you need to know which one is rarer so if you find it- you can grab
a few bulbs.
Ornithogalum
Ornithogalum is a white flowering, fast spreading bulb for spring blooms.
Excellent for naturalizing in rough spots but it comes with a potential
garden thug warning.
Oxalis adenophylla
Oxalis adenophylla is a delightful small, hardy bulb, that is
perfectly suited for the rock garden or front of a perennial border.
Puschkinia
Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica is a real mouthful
(named after Count Puschkin) but you do want to grow a few of these
Need to Ask a Question About Spring Bulbs
If you have a question about growing spring bulbs that's not covered in the website, this is the place to ask it.
Please be as specific as you can.
Understand that I'm one writer trying to help folks out (not some big company) and I simply can't answer every question I get. Please check out the regional forums where there are a lot of other gardeners willing to help you out. (see navigation bar)
Important Please note that the text entry boxes can be tricky to read on some browsers. The boxes are usually right to the right or directly underneath the captcha text box.
What Other Visitors Have Asked About Spring Bulbs
Click below to see what other gardeners have asked about spring bulbs
bulbs not growing I purchased 4 lily tree and some dutch iris bulbs as well as two day lily roots. Some are in sun and some the lily trees are shaded by hostas but ...
Tulips & Daffodils I have tulip & daffodil bulbs that didn't make it into the ground in the fall and I wanted to know if I plant them in containers and leave them outside ...
When to trim allium flowers.
When is it okay to trim back allium.
Do I have to wait until the leaves turn brown.
What about the flowers heads when can I cut them back. When the ...
spring bulbs are sprouting
I have recently planted anemone bulbs but they are starting to sprout slready! What do I do? What did I do wrong?
Doug has written about this extensively ...
How to use the same bed used for bulbs for other flowers during the year?
Hi there! I hope you can answer this overarching question easily. I just KNOW there's some sort of principle I don't understand at work here!
Basically,...
Leucojum vernum indoors
Can I start the Bulb indoor now instead of plant them in the garden?
If so, should I water them in the winter?
Thanks
Doug says you can grow any plant ...
what is this flower? It's just blooming now in Seattle - it's May 11th (Mother's Day)...just planted last year - they came up beautifully but now I don't remember what they ...
Help Identifiying Yellow Spring Bulbs
Hi,
Thanks for a great site! Can you identify the lovely spring bulbs in the enclosed photo? I thought that they were daffodils, but now I'm not sure....
bulbs after weed control
can you plant bulbs after using weed killer on the garden?
Doug says he doesn't understand why you want to use "weed killer" on your garden? Why not ...
Spring Planting of Spring Bulbs I've recently relocated several dozen double daffodil bulbs which didn't get into the ground in the fall two years back. There were more of them than I'...
Care for Allium
What do I do when the flower is finished and turned into a seedlike ball?
Do I cut this back or just let it stay as it is in my garden?
Doug says ...
White flowering bulb taking over I have way too many of these small bulbs. They start out looking like muscari, but before it flowers, the foliage begins to wither. The daisylike flower ...
What Month should I dig up my Daffadil bulbs?
My Daffadils have not been dug up in about 10 years. When is the best time to dig them up and separate them and move them to a new location?
Doug says ...
dying tulips My tulips have grown and now they are dying. I want to trim the dead petals off. Should I trim them at the base of the stem or at the top, right under ...
daffodils in window boxes I planted daffodil bulbs in my window boxes in the fall and none of them came up. The ones i planted in the ground are now blossoming. Any thoughts as ...
transplanting spring bulbs in spring My spring bulbs (tulips, daffodils, crocus, and irises) are just beginning to peek through the ground. Some will be overshadowed by larger plants and ...
Pre-treatment of bulbs
I want to know what you can use to treat bulbs before you store them for the next season.
Doug says he's not sure what you want to treat them for. Generally ...
After the tulip bloom
My husband bought me a beautiful red potted tulip plant and it has stopped blooming and turned yellow. What do I do now?
Doug suggests you read the ...
re: planting tulip bulbs
I recieved a tulip plant for V.Day. How do I prepare it to plant outside for next spring?
Doug says you might want to read this article on caring ...
Amaryllis reblooming I was given this amazing bulb as a Christmas present. It has brought me much joy as it grew and then bloomed. My question what do I do now? The flowers ...
when to plant iris bulbs
when to plant iris bulbs?
Doug says that the smaller spring-blooming iris bulbs such as I. reticulata are planted in the fall with the other hardy bulbs....
planting depth
I found a chart that showed how deep to plant bulbs. I can't find it now. Can you tell me where it is located on the web site?
Doug says the rule ...
replanting and moving Fritillaria
I would like to change the location for my Fritillarias in my garden.
When is the best time to do that?
What is the best way of doing it so I will not ...
Crocus not growing We planted lots of CROCUS bulbs in Mid November and had snow few days later. New bulbs are not growing? Old bulbs those wre there previously are blooming?...
can Crocus be grown in the house in containers I received some Crocus bulbs as a present and they are now coming up. I followed all the suggestions on the box and I am concerned because it says that ...
Bulbs Not Blooming
I planted 3000 bulbs about 10 years ago in a naturalized area of my front yard.
Sun is ample and I have had plentiful blooms until this year. I ...
