The end of high summer may make you feel wistful, but this is the perfect time to jump into planning your bulb order for next year’s spring ornamentals. The drop-off in gardening duties now gives you extra time to formulate a cohesive and compelling spring bulb garden plan – filled with exciting flowering choices. Not only does planning now give you an advantage later in terms of planting and timing – it can also give you more options with those all-important bulb purchases.
Planning now for your spring flowering bulbs is also a great opportunity to give your planting gear an overview, cast a critical eye over your soil and containers, think about a few creative twists with new planting styles, and make sure you have everything ready for planting bulbs at the best times. These spring bulb planning pointers are perfect for any garden buff wanting a stunning yard next year – and they are easy to follow. So grab your planner, and let’s get to it!
Prep your soil ahead of planting your gorgeous spring bulbs by adding some of Down To Earth’s Fish Bone Meal – it’s organic, water soluble and fast acting.
Best Ways to Kick off Your Spring Bulb Plan
Some key factors will have a bearing on how you approach the task of adding spring bulbs to your flower garden. Some of your choices will hinge as much on your USDA region and soil options, as much as your bulb preferences. However, planning now gives you time to make important adjustments and prime your planting site, whether that’s in beds or borders, on the lawn, or in a series of well placed containers.
Furthermore, creating a sensible spring bulb plan that takes these factors into account can still be fun – and rewarding. Spring bulbs can transform a quiet yard into a colorful haven at a quiet time of the gardening year, and with a few clever steps, the payoff is huge – whether you’re after cheerful yellow narcissus or dark and moody tulips. It’s all about choosing the best bulbs, nailing the timings, and starting right. Follow these tips, and get ready for a yard bursting with spring color.
1. Get in Early for the Best Picks
Snagging bulbs in late summer or early fall means you can grab the cream of the crop before they’re gone. Garden catalogs and online spots start showing up around August, and those fancy tulips or sturdy daffodils vanish fast. Waiting too long means digging through leftovers, so it’s worth flipping through options early to beat the rush.
Great options to sift through over September and October for spring bulb planting include crocus, hyacinth, narcissus, and alliums. Other great options for October planting include muscari, tulips, anemones and fritillaries. You can find an extensive range of flowering spring bulbs at Burpee, including darkest purple ‘Paul Scherer’ Tulips, ‘Globemaster’ Alliums, ‘Fortissimo’ Daffodils, and ‘Blue Pearl’ Crocuses.
2. Line Up Bulbs With Your Zone
Knowing your USDA zone keeps bulbs from bombing. Zones 3-9 cover most spots, but a tulip happy in zone 5 might sulk in zone 9’s heat – luckily, such mistakes are quite easy to avoid. Think about local weather. Cold snaps call for tough crocuses, while milder areas suit hyacinths. Zones 4-8 are great for cold-hardy crocus, tulip and hyacinth, where a winter chill helps plants to bloom. Meanwhile, zones 9-10 suit narcissus, small species tulips, muscari and warm-climate alliums. Check now to save some “why didn’t this work?” moments.
As well as gauging which bulbs are likely to work best with your USDA zone, it’s also smart to assess the condition of your soil during the seasonal transition between one year’s summer and the next year’s spring. Identifying any issues now gives you plenty of time to amend the soil if needs be. If in doubt, test the soil with a soil meter like the Raintrip 4-in-1 Meter from Amazon, which tests for soil pH, nutrient loads and moisture levels. Getting on top of this ahead of planting and growing will mean your bulbs develop with the best growing conditions possible.
3. Spread Out the Bloom Times
Mixing up when flowers pop keeps the show going. You may be staring down several relatively quiet gardening months, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a succession of color and vibrancy. Knowing how long certain bulbs take to grow and flower means you can plan accordingly. Start with early snowdrop flowers. Depending on the variety and local climate, these can bloom from winter to March. Buy early-spring flowering Willard & May Galanthus Nivalis snowdrop bulbs from Amazon.
Ease into mid-season tulip varieties to create a charming overlap with a point of difference. For an early burst of color, buy ‘Apricot Beauty’ from Nature Hills. The relatively late flowering ‘Black Parrot’ Tulip from Walmart offers an enchanting contrast that offsets any bolder colors as you head into late spring. Cap this with late narcissus bulbs such as ‘Narcissus Double Mix’ from Amazon for a color burst from March to May. Think of it as a seamless flower relay, keeping the garden vibrant with no dull gaps.
4. Stack Bulbs With Lasagna Style
Lasagna bulb planting in pots or beds squeezes in more beauty over the full sweep of spring. In essence, it is a style of planting where layers of different bulbs are planted at mixed levels, arranged according to flowering times and variety specifications, to ensure a constant display of vivid color. You can arrange them either to stagger your display, or to ensure that their blooms appear in concert.
Whether you create a ground-based or container-based bulb lasagne, plant the larger, later-flowering bulbs lowest in the group, and the smallest, earliest blooming bulbs near the surface. A classic spring lasagne would feature tulips low down, covered with mid-layer crocuses, and topped with shallow grape hyacinths like Blue Grape Muscari from Burpee. Come spring, you can enjoy a bloom bonanza!
5. Go for Pots to Switch Things Up
Pots bring bulbs to decks or patios, giving you an instant focal point for your spring displays that is easy to shuffle and relocate if the weather turns. Pack your spring bulb containers with well-drained soil, and have fun playing around with both classic and modern arrangements. Classic container displays allow you to vary heights with bold color contrasts, such as daffodils and muscari. Or you could play with one bulb type, like tulips, in a mixed color display – or even try a monochromatic arrangement.
For deep vertical planters with an elegant, understated style, we love the Worth Store Unbreakable Beige Patio Planters from Amazon with their naturalistic ribs. For a more rustic container, try the 3-pack of BNSPLY Wooden Planter Barrels from Amazon, offering multiple sizes with side handles for moving around.
6. Toss in Annuals and Perennials
Throwing together different bulb types keeps the garden thriving at a quiet time of year, and encourages variety in texture and tone. Mixing up your perennials and annuals lets you explore the possibilities of both types of bulb. For example, perennials like alliums come back yearly, while annual tulips add a quick pop.
To mix things up further, intersperse bulb displays with the joys of other seasonal perennials or annuals, playing to the strengths of both. Usually grown as annuals, depending on region, pansies can make creative gap-fillers for spring bulbs in pots and borders. There are some gorgeous pansy varieties including a diverse mix of pansies at Burpee, such as ‘Sunrise’, Cool Wave’ and ‘Moulin Rouge’, to help you create a shifting, lively scene.
7. Aim for the Planting Sweet Spot
Fall’s the time for spring bulb planting. Aim for 6-8 weeks before the ground freezes. Starting too soon is bad news for tulips, as it can invite the risk of viruses. Conversely, jumping in too late risks puny growth. Think October to November, for most areas and spring bulbs, and mark the date on the calendar. This planting sweet spot lets roots settle before winter, prepping shoots for spring.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t start some spring bulbs off in September. Again, your choice of bulb and variety, your planting region, and the conditions of your soil will have some bearing on your planting window. Hyacinth, crocus, muscari and narcissus, plus snowdrops and early anemones, can all be planted in September, allowing for any specifications from the bulb suppliers. Don’t forget to condition your planting site ahead of planting, with a treatment like Miracle-Gro’s Performance Organics All-Purpose In-Ground soil amendment from Walmart.
8. Hunt Down Quality Bulbs
Stick with solid sources like local nurseries or online names. Nature Hills is a solid source for healthy stock. One of my favorite early catches for my spring bulb collection are the ‘Orange Monarch’ Crocus Bulbs from Nature Hills, with a gorgeous tone and unique shape, in packs of 25. Nature Hills also does an impressive range of tulips, from fluffy marshmallow style ‘Double Surprise’ to sultry ‘Queen of the Night’.
Shopping early allows you to be discerning and make calm decisions, so you can choose firm bulbs free of mold or mush. Spending a little more upfront really pays off. Other great bulb suppliers include Eden Brothers, Brent & Becky’s Bulbs, Breck’s (great for imported Dutch bulbs), American Meadows, and DutchGrown.
9. Grab the Right Gear
As well as the all-important bulbs, it’s important to do a quick overview of your planting gear and make sure your gardening tools are up to scratch. In terms of bulb-planting essentials, a bulb planter like the Garden Weasel Planter from Amazon can take the grunt work out of digging. This planter is perfect for hitting depths of 6-8 inches (15-20cm) for tulips or 3-4 inches (8-10cm) for crocuses.
If you don’t need a long handle, the Berry & Bird Bulb Planter from Amazon is compact and responsive. We also love the American Cast Dibbler from Burpee, which works quickly and has a really comfortable handle. You also need a good hand trowel and a hori-hori like the Fiskars Hori Hori Garden Knife from Amazon. And don’t forget to toss in a pair of gloves and a measuring tape like the Pink WorkPro 25ft Retractable Measuring Tape from Amazon.
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