Don't overlook the more uncommon bulbs
Q. Every year I plant tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. What else is there in the bulb world to guarantee a long blooming time?
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 energy storage of the plant when dormant, allowing it to survive for months without moisture or soil.
Spring flowering bulbs are considered hardy bulbs as 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 consideration 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 plants.
As early as February, Illinois native 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) make an appearance; make note 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; 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 to three 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 inch blue carpet of 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, 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). The plant is 16 to 24 inches with 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 quamash 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 inch, tightly clustered florets that are unbothered by deer, insects and most diseases. They look stunning either fresh or in dried arrangements.
My final recommendation for the late spring is dazzling foxtail lily (Eremurus species) which blooms from the bottom up on 3-inch spires covered with hundreds of star shaped flowers in yellow, orange, white or pink varieties. This is a real showstopper in my front yard that, year after year, elicits comments from pedestrians walking by.
— Stephanie Stauder Kenny
• Provided through the Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines, and University of Illinois Extension, North Cook Branch Office, Arlington Heights. Call (847) 298-3502 on Wednesdays or email northcookmg@gmail.com. Visit web.extension.illinois.edu/mg.