Create a spring garden now by planting flowering bulbs
Q: Every year I plant tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. What else is there that is suitable in the bulb world?
A: Bulbs may come in nondescript plain brown packaging but they offer gardeners an exciting array of color choices, bloom time, type, height and shape. True bulbs including tulips, daffodils and hyacinths as well as other similar underground storage organs, including corms (think crocus), rhizomes (iris), tubers (foxtail lily) and tuberous roots (begonias), that hold the entire life of the plant when dormant, allowing it to survive for months without moisture or soil.
Spring flowering bulbs are considered hardy bulbs in that they are planted in the fall and able to stay in the ground all winter. In fact, they need this cold period of dormancy in order to flower. Summer flowering bulbs typically are not as hardy. These tender bulbs must be dug up in the fall and stored during the winter for planting in the spring. We will limit our discussion here to hardy spring flowering bulbs.
While tulips, daffodils and hyacinths may be the spring bulbs that most can recognize and appreciate, you can make your spring garden an early and uncommon standout in the neighborhood by planting some of the following members of the bulb family.
As early as February, Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) appears with 2- to 3-inch, golden, buttercup-like flowers resting on a cushion of dark green leaves.
At about the same time, the white bell shaped blooms of Snowdrops (Galanthus species) make an appearance. This is one of the few bulbs that do well in clay soil.
Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa lucilae), with its blue-star shaped flowers, appear next at just 6 to 8 inches in height. It is extremely hardy, survives summer droughts and likes cold winters but prefers planting in full sunlight.
The earliest species crocus may be blooming by March a full two weeks ahead of the hybrids. Mix them together and you get a full month's worth of blooms in the garden. Planted in your lawn, they can be left undisturbed as the foliage ripens about the time you need to mow.
Early to mid-spring, Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) with its beautiful blue flowers, is a most familiar sight in our area. It readily naturalizes, creating a wonderful 4 to 8 inches of blue carpet with starry nodding bells.
Striped squill (Puschkinia scilloides) produces 4- to 6-inch creamy white, starlike flowers touched with dark-blue striping clustered at the top of the graceful stems in March to April. These are wonderful in rock gardens, perennial borders and under trees and shrubs. They are undemanding, remain trouble-free, and if left undisturbed, increase rapidly.
By mid-spring, Grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum), with 6- to 8-inch flower spikes that look like clusters of little pearls in blue, white or pink appear. These are actually corms, not true bulbs, that naturalize well and usually carry a mild fragrance.
For a real WOW factor, try planting Crown Imperial fritillaria (Fritillaria imperalis). It has 16- to 24-inch drooping, bell-shaped flowers of red, orange, yellow and bronze on sturdy stems that hold up well to spring storms. It may also have an unpleasant scent that is reputed to keep rodents away.
Late spring into early summer, Camassia camass blooms. This lovely native bulb species has clear blue flowers on 18- to 24-inch stems. It is an excellent choice for moist, fertile soil in full to partial sun, as it is one of the few bulbs that tolerate wet feet.
Globe shaped alliums (Allium giganteum) are also blooming by late spring. Related to onions and chives, these 4- to 5-foot giants produce 4 inches of tightly clustered florets that are unbothered by deer, insects and most diseases. They look stunning either fresh or in dried arrangements.
For more details on any of the ideas presented here, visit our website at web.extension.illinois.edu/mg.
- Stephanie Kenny
• Provided by Master Gardeners through the Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines. Call (847) 298-3502 or email northcookmg@gmail.com.