The time of planting bulbs depends on when they flower. The general rule for bulbs, rhizomes and tubers is to plant spring-flowering bulbs in autumn and summer-flowering plants in spring. Bulbs need time to mature and build up energy to grow and allow the plant to bloom a few months later. With a little advance preparation for the planting season, you can have incredibly beautiful bulb blooms in spring, summer and autumn. Always buy at least ten bulbs so you can plant them together and watch them bloom en masse.
Plant crocuses, snowdrops, daffodils, tulips, alliums, scillas, muscari, hyacinths, fritillaries, camassias in October and November to bloom in spring. Tulips can also be planted in December.
Gladiolus, dahlias, cannas, anemones, Persian buttercups, begonias, crocosmias blooming in summer and autumn should be planted in April and May.
Most bulbs prefer a sunny place with a good drainage. When plant them add some grit or sand at the base of the hole. I like to grow bulbs, especially summer tubers, in containers. I like to move them around the garden during the season, depending on my mood. Tulips of several varieties planted in terracotta pots look impressive. And small bulbs – snowdrops, scillas, fritillarias planted on the lawn, look very natural, imitating the natural style. But this job is for the autumn season. What can be done with bulbs now?
Moving small bulbous primroses
If you already have snowdrops, muscari, scillas and crocuses growing in your garden, you can replant them in spring.
Immediately after flowering dig up a bunch of plants, trying to capture around the bulbs more soil and not to damage the roots, carefully with your hands divide the bunch into several parts so that in each part there were three or four bulbs, and immediately plant in a new place.
Of course, the best time to replant bulbs is August-September, but usually at this time there are many other things to do in the garden and the plants themselves are no longer visible as their above-ground parts are dying off. To find and transplant them in autumn, mark the bulbs in spring.
As for large bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, camassias and onions, they should be planted in autumn. I have often had tulip bulbs accidentally dug up in spring or summer when working with perennials in the flowerbed. If this happens do not try to plant them back, you need to clean the bulbs from the soil and put them in a dry dark place until autumn, when you can plant them in the garden. In this case, the tulips will bloom the following spring. I will write about tulips in detail closer to the planting season.
Planting summer-flowering bulbs
In April and May we plant bulbs, tubers, rhizomes and corms of plants that flower in the second half of summer and autumn – gladioli, dahlias, cannas, crocosmia, acidanthera, anemones, Persian buttercups, begonias. Many shops are already offering planting material of these plants now. Before planting in the garden store them in a cool dark place or plant in advance in containers that would start blooming period earlier. There are nuances for each plant.
Gladiolus Hybridum
Buy corms ready for planting, spread them out in a single layer and leave them open at room temperature. After a while, a sprout will begin to appear from the corm – this is good, the plant is waking up and preparing for planting. We plant in April-May in the garden or in a container. I like to plant them close to each other to get a beautiful flowering bouquet. And in this case it is convenient to tie the tall plants all together.
At the bottom of the hole about 10cm deep, put sand or grit, lay the bulbs and fill with garden soil mixed with compost. Cover the surface with mulch from the same grit, or bark, compost, wood chips.
The same is with Acidanthera Gladiolus murielae. I usually plant it in a nice container and leave it in a sunny spot near my summer terrace. I like to move the container from place to place during the summer, decorating one area of the garden or another.
Dahlia
Dahlia tubers are also already on sale in garden centres. You can now plant the tubers in a simple plastic container in which the plants are sold. By the time you transplant them into the garden, the plant will have moved into growth, the first shoots will appear and flowering will occur sooner. Put the container in a sunny place, water it and wait for the first sprouts. Do not let the dahlia suffer from sudden frosts. The foliage of the plant is very delicate. You can put the tubers in the ground directly in May, in this case flowering will come later.
Dahlias have many varieties and shades of colour, so you can choose the one that will brighten up your existing flowerbed in the second half of summer. Dahlias are very delicate, do not tolerate temperatures below zero. What to do with dahlia in autumn I will write closer to autumn.
In the same way we do with Canna. In advance put a tuber in a pot for germination and in May we move the plant into the ground or you can leave it in a container, placing it in the garden among other plants.
Anemona Coronaria
These are plants with different planting dates and different flowering dates. The red and white ones are spring-flowering and planted in October. The purple and pink ones are autumn-flowering planted in April. Before planting, soak the tubers in water for 24 hours. The place for planting is sunny or sparse shade. The plant is not very tall, it is better to plant in the foreground.
Persian buttercup Ranunculus asiaticus
It is an excellent flower for adding bright colour to pots and borders. Delicate in frost, Persian buttercup grows from a rhizome and blooms on short stems about 30 cm tall. Just like anemones, buttercup tubers need to be soaked in water for a day before planting in May. Plant them with a claw-like part facing downwards to a depth of 5cm, beforehand put some grit on the bottom.
Tuberous Begonia
One of my favourite flowering plants. It is a great find for shady spots in the garden or on the terrace. It has a variety of colours, blooms all summer and goes into late autumn. The plants can be moved indoors for the winter and will continue to bloom. In spring, we plant tubers in the prepared open ground or in a container. There is a peculiarity of planting – the upper part of the tuber should remain above the surface. Find a pink bud or concavity on the tuber – this will be the top of the tuber. Gently push the tuber into the ground and cover the sides with soil. I grow begonias in containers placed on the veranda. In the winter I move them to the flat, where they continue to bloom all winter long.