The ABCs of adding color in your landscape with bulbs

Now is the time to increase color in next spring’s garden by purchasing spring-flowering bulbs.

Consider planting daffodils, which are among the hardiest, most adaptable and pest-resistant bulbs for Midwestern gardeners. They naturalize beautifully and are available in many sizes and bloom times. Proper selection of varieties will give three to five weeks of constant bloom. Deer, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits do not eat them.

Ornamental onions (also known as allium) also will not be eaten by animals. Tulips, on the other hand, are a deer and rabbit favorite. In my garden, squirrels and chipmunks have left winter aconite and snowdrops alone but they ate all of the crocus.

When you buy bulbs in a garden center, pick bulbs that are plump and firm with no mushy spots. Small nicks, loose tunics or blue/gray mold do not affect the development and health of bulbs. Bulbs with white mold or that are soft and lightweight with a strong moldy smell are probably bad. Don’t buy them.

If your bulbs cannot be planted right away, store them in a well-ventilated area that is cool but above freezing, out of reach of rodents and away from ethylene-producing materials such as ripening fruit. Artificial heat will dry bulbs, while high temperatures may destroy next spring’s flower in the bulb.

Most bulbs should be planted after a hard frost starting in mid- to late October and before the ground freezes. Fall-flowering bulbs such as autumn crocus (Colchicum) should have been planted in early to mid-September.

Bulbs rarely look good alone or in rows. Plant them in clumps or drifts. Bulbs such as daffodils can be naturalized or planted to look as if they are growing wild. One way to do this is to toss handfuls of bulbs and plant them where they land.

Small bulbs such as crocus should be planted in large groups of at least 30 to 50 so they are more prominent in the landscape. Incorporate bulbs into the perennial border in groups of seven to 15 bulbs or more.

Consider how you are going to manage bulb foliage when planting in perennial borders, since the bulbs need to go dormant before you cut back the foliage. Lots of browning bulb foliage can be intrusive in a perennial border, so choose ones with less foliage or blend carefully with larger perennials.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.