Springtime is flower time, and of all the flowers that bloom in spring, those that burst forth from bulbs are the most colorful and prolific bloom.
Indeed, by planting an assortment of bulbs, corms, and tubers selected with an eye to flowering sequence, you can enjoy a continuous procession of bright blooms for 14 to 18 weeks—from February’s first snowdrop to the last Maytime tulip.
And your flower pageant may start in January in very mild winters, such as the last one.
Planting spring bulbs for continuous bloom means, above all, making the acquaintance of many less familiar species and kinds, the so-called wild types, which start before, thread through, and often extend beyond the main blooming periods.
And, let me say there is no more exciting and rewarding adventure in gardening.
It is exciting because of anticipation of the new and rewarding because of its almost surefire success since growing bulbs is about as certain as anything can be in gardening.
If yours is the average garden, it is doubtless already brightened by at least some representatives of the bulb kingdom, probably daffodils and tulips.
But why not enjoy the four-month-long spectacle of beauty which can be yours by a little adventuring?
Even if you stick to daffodils and tulips, you can still enjoy three months of flowers.
Most folks, it’s true, think of April as daffodil time (having in mind kinds like King Alfred and white Beersheba) and May as tulip time (thinking of the colorful Breeders and Darwins).
They overlook the hardy little species daffodil Narcissus minimus, which opens its golden blossoms anytime from late January to early March, depending on the weather.
They puss by, too, the Kaufmanniana tulips such as Scarlet Elegance and flame and gold Cesar Franck – by no means miniatures—which bloom in all their brilliant glory in late March (preferably in a blue sea of chionodoxa or Scilla siberica).
Nor are they aware that at the end of the spring season, the double white daffodil Albus Menus Odoratus still bestows its fragrance and beauty in lightly shaded woodlands.
At the same time, the tardiest May tulips begin to drop their petals in the garden.
Even then, tulips Tulipa persica and T. sprengeri are just. coming into their height of bloom!
Yours may be one of the many gardens where spring is ushered in April by a spread of crocus on the lawn or in front of shrubbery.
Very cheerful and colorful. But do you know that these ordinary kinds of crocus are preceded a month or more by perfectly hardy and available wild or species crocus, such as pale yellow E. A. Bowles, lilac Crocus etruscus, and blue C. sieberi?
Use of Spring Bulbs Effectively
Plant the early bulbs (whose flowers are small) close together in sizable masses—in colonies by the hundreds or in sweeps by the thousands.
They are inexpensive and easy enough to plant for this to be within the range of the average gardener.
Daffodils and early tulips should be combined with the small-flowered bulbs.
For instance, tulips kaufmanniana hybrids with chionodoxas, squills, and daffodils with grape hyacinths.
With the May-flowering tulips, the spring bulb season reaches its climax. These colorful stately blooms go beautifully with early perennials such as ageratum, columbine, or Phlox divaricata or with wood hyacinths.
Abnormal weather, of course, will advance or retard the usual blooming time of all flowers.
The earliest flowering bulbs in the January 15 to March 15 group are most affected by vagaries of weather. These dates simply represent the time when these bulbs can bloom if winter lets them.
Last year I had crocus blooming in January, while in the late spring of 1950, these bulbs didn’t flower until March. Still, the relative flowering periods change but little with the weather.
Planting Location
Planting location can change both absolute and relative times of bloom.
The amount of sun or shade, exposure to winter winds, and the likelihood of lingering snow drifts are all factors that will substantially affect the flowering time of any individual planting – and, again, most particularly that of early bulbs.
For a February to May procession of bloom, select some of the kinds listed in each time-period group to grow in your garden.
No home lot is too small to accommodate at least a few from each group.
43528 by Charles Mueller