Plant your bulbs now for color-filled spring

We all want to lengthen the show of color in our gardens. We choose perennials with extended bloom times; annuals for summer-long color; and plants with foliage that turns shades of orange, red and yellow in fall. If there were one thing you could do now to ensure a garden bursting with color beginning in March (maybe even with snow on the ground), would you do it? If you said yes, grab your shovel and plant bulbs. We all expect daffodils and tulips, but there are many other choices, too.

Double Snowdrops

Double snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno') grow 4 inches tall and sport nodding, double white flowers tipped in green beginning in late winter or very early spring. Plant snowdrops closely spaced in masses under trees or tuck them into small nooks.

Glory of the Snow

Chionodoxa forbesii produces up to 15 lavender-blue starlike flowers in very early spring. Planted in front of evergreen shrubs, they glow. Another plus - after blooming, the foliage quickly yellows and disappears.

Grape Hyacinths

My favorite in the "small, but mighty" category of bulbs, grape hyacinths (Muscari spp.) hold their grape-like flowers on spikes. I plant grape hyacinths with every other bulb I plant. Because their foliage appears in fall, they create "bulb markers" to remind me where other bulbs are planted.

Allium

These members of the ornamental onion family bear flowers that resemble fireworks celebrating the arrival of spring. From small varieties barely a foot tall to 4-foot high selections that tower over spring-blooming perennials.

• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist and garden center manager at The Planter's Palette, 28W571 Roosevelt Road, Winfield. Call (630) 293-1040.