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Bulbs For Spring Start Now

Ranunculus will bloom for early spring.

Summer bulbs, such as canna, calla and dahlia, can wait until spring. They do not enjoy winter chill during their dormancy like spring bulbs do. Spring bulbs become available at nurseries now because this is the time to plant them. They wait patiently for winter to end before blooming. A bit of winter chill actually helps them to maintain their strict schedule.

That certainly does not mean that their strict schedule is not adjustable. Most early bulbs prefer interment into their shallow graves within weeks of Halloween. However, they can wait as late as New Year’s Day. This allows for successive planting, which prolongs their ultimate bloom. Early planting promotes early bloom. Late planting promotes late bloom.

Most spring bulbs from nurseries are prechilled because winters are relatively mild here. They are therefore less reliant on significant winter chill. However, some of such bulbs in several of the milder climates may bloom only once. They lack the winter chill they need to bloom for subsequent springs. Avid garden enthusiasts compensate with refrigeration.

That requires major diligence, though. Most who enjoy gardening do not want to dig and refrigerate dirty spring bulbs. Consequently, most who grow them enjoy them as annuals or disposable perennials. Unfortunately though, spring bulbs do not bloom for very long, and are not inexpensive. That is why they are not as prevalent here as in other climates.

Freesia and narcissus, including daffodil, do not need much chill. They can settle in and bloom for many years after their initial planting. Ranunculus and anemone may not need much chill either, but are less likely to regenerate from year to year. Dutch iris and Dutch crocus are unpredictable. They might become reliably perennial, but may not cooperate.

Tulip and hyacinth may be more disappointing, since they require significant winter chill. If they can not experience such chill naturally from the weather, they require refrigeration. Otherwise, they bloom only once for their primary season, and only after prechilling. Yet, both are among the most popular of spring bulbs. Their blooms are simply too appealing.

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Naked Lady

Naked lady is only rarely white.

From scarcely exposed tops of seemingly dead bulbs, floral stalks unexpectedly appear. Foliage only appears after bloom finishes. This is why Amaryllis belladonna is known as naked lady. It blooms unfoliated. Various varieties of the same species bloom with about the same vivid pink color. White variants are very rare. Floral fragrance is mild but sweet.

Naked lady flowers are about two feet tall on simple brown or green stalks. Fleshy seeds that develop after bloom are viable only while fresh and plump. Foliage begins to appear by later summer, and grows more with autumn rain. It resembles foliage of lily of the Nile, but is more fragile, and shrivels by late spring. Then, bulbs lay dormant through summer.

Naked lady bulbs are impressively resilient, but also quite sensitive. If possible, the best time to relocate them is supposedly between bloom and foliation. However, relocation is likely easiest during complete summer dormancy. Unfortunately, though, such relocation can interfere with subsequent bloom. Naked lady needs full sun exposure to bloom well, but requires no water.

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Tulip

A single tulip flower seems lonely.

As diverse as they are, popular varieties are a minority of countless hybrids of the genus. Most common and popular hybrid tulips qualify as the neo-species of Tulipa gesneriana. In other words, they are not an actual species. Most but not all are descendants of Tulipa suaveolens. More sustainable varieties of simple species are becoming more available.

The most popular of tulip are early spring bulbs that went into their gardens last autumn. Floral color ranges through pink, red, orange, yellow and white, mostly with dark centers. Their basal foliage is rather light green or perhaps almost grayish, with a rubbery texture. Most tulips stand singly on straight stems about a foot tall, but some can grow a bit taller.

Tulip bulbs enjoy organically rich soil with regular irrigation throughout their bloom cycle. They should get all the moisture they want from rain through their winter dormancy cycle. Tulip prefer a bit of chill in winter, so may not be as reliably perennial here as elsewhere. They are most spectacular in herds or large beds, but mix nicely with other spring bulbs. Simple tulips are among the most popular of cut flowers.

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Grooming Deteriorating Bloom Conserves Resources

Daffodil are tidier with timely grooming.

Spring bulbs are now blooming, and some are already done. Summer bulbs will bloom a bit later, and some will continue until autumn. Annuals, perennials, shrubbery, vines and all sorts of other vegetation also bloom. Most simply shed their deteriorating flowers after bloom. Some may benefit from grooming to remove such flowers before they go to seed.

Grooming to remove lingering deteriorated flowers, or deadheading, is obviously neater. Flowers that continue to bloom are more prominent without their decaying predecessors. Camellias may not need such grooming, since their flowers fall away as they deteriorate. However, removal of fading flowers, before or after they fall, eliminates their mess below.

Perhaps more importantly, grooming to remove fading flowers conserves vital resources. Although most bulbs are sterile hybrids, some try to generate fruiting structures for seed. This consumes substantial resources. Removal of fruiting structures before they develop diverts resources to other growth. Canna diverts such resources into subsequent bloom.

For some species, grooming to remove fruiting structures stimulates subsequent blooms. After all, seed production is their priority, and the objective of bloom. If they perceive any deprivation of seed, they are compelled to produce more. Several dahlias bloom initially with single flowers. After grooming, the stems below branch for a few secondary flowers.

For a few potentially invasive species, grooming eliminates unwanted seed. Montbretia, which is famously invasive, is less so if deprived of its seed. African iris might disperse a few unwanted seed and get shabby without grooming. Summer snowflake and common grape hyacinth often disperse their seed. Both are too small and numerous for grooming.

Fortunately, summer snowflake and common grape hyacinth are true to type. Freesia are not. Without grooming, they can produce feral progeny that are similar to their ancestors. Such feral progeny are more prolific with seed for more of the same. Eventually, they can displace the desirable original varieties. Although more fragrant, they are not as colorful.

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Harlequin Flower

‘Tricolor’ (obviously) means ‘three colors’.

Even though bulbs for harlequin flower, Sparaxis tricolor, are no longer commonly found in nurseries when it is time to plant them in autumn, naturalized bulbs are somewhat common in some older gardens. Where winters are mild and soil does not get too dry and compacted, they are happy to slowly multiply and bloom every spring. They seem to be blooming a bit early this year, since they typically wait until later in spring. The upright narrow leaves resemble those of gladiolus, but get no taller than a foot. Each flower stems rises a bit higher to display a few flowers that are about an inch and a half wide. Each flower has a yellow center surrounded by a narrow rusty brown pattern, which is also surrounded by a third color; which is orange, red, pink or purple.

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Onion

Onions grow easily from onion sets.

Leek, garlic, shallot and other species of the genus have more distinct growing seasons. Technically, onion, Allium cepa, is a cool season vegetable. It grows through winter to be ready for harvest before summer dormancy. Alternatively, it can grow through spring for a later summer harvest. In cool situations, it can grow through summer for autumn harvest.

Onions do not actually mature within a single season anyway. Most grow from onion sets which are simply small onions that grew from seed earlier. They simply finish growing for another season once plugged into a garden. Those that grow from seed in autumn might go dormant through the middle of winter. Spring is actually their second growing season.

The most popular onions are yellow or brown, red or purple, or white. Each type exhibits a distinct flavor. All develop a few hollow bluish green leaves that stand about a foot tall. Their foliage shrivels as they mature enough for harvest. They are useless if they bloom. Green onions are merely juvenile onions which have not yet developed distended bulbs.

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Summery Bulbs After Spring Bulbs

Many summery bulbs bloom only once.

Spring bulbs prefer an earlier start, and several appreciate a bit of winter chill. Summery bulbs, or summer bulbs or late bulbs, prefer a later start to avoid such chill. Most tolerate minor frost, but none benefit from it. If too early, some can start to decay while waiting for warmer weather. Some can grow prematurely, and perhaps incur damage from late frost.

Summery bulbs are in season now because they take a bit of time to grow. The potential for frost should be minimal as their foliage emerges above their soil. Once established in their first seasons, many could stay in their gardens indefinitely. They should be resilient to minor frost by their second seasons. Most that incur damage should recover efficiently.

However, many summery bulbs are not reliably perennial. Cannas and gingers can grow aggressively enough to become invasive. Gladiolus, though, may bloom half as much for subsequent seasons until none remain. Some who like to grow dahlias prefer to dig and store the tubers through winter. This is more likely to protect them from rot than from frost.

Incidentally, few summery bulbs are actually bulbs. Most are perennial rhizomes, corms, tubers or tuberous roots. Some, especially those that grow from tubers or tuberous roots, bloom longer. Those that grow from bulbs, corms and rhizomes mostly bloom only once. Succession planting prolongs their first bloom seasons, but they synchronize afterwards.

After their summer bloom seasons, most summery bulbs defoliate for a winter dormancy. This is actually why they are in season now. After all, winter dormancy is the best time for transplanting, division and thinning. Cannas and gingers could try to retain some foliage through winter. Cutting it all back might be easier than grooming it from new foliage later.

Dahlias might be the most popular of summery bulbs. Cannas and gingers are likely the second most common. Alliums and old fashioned tuberous begonias are becoming more popular. Tuberous begonias are not so easy to grow, though. Crocosmias are too easy to grow, and are invasive. Alocasias and colocasias provide colorful and boldly big leaves.

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Narcissus

Daffodil are a type of Narcissus.

If their bulbs were planted when they became available as summer evolved into autumn, Tazetta Narcissus and their hybrids should begin to bloom about now, a bit prior to related daffodil and jonquil Narcissus. In cooler winter climates, bloom must wait until early spring. The most popular variety, ‘Paper White’ blooms with about five or six small clear white flowers clustered on top of foot tall stems surrounded by vertical and somewhat rubbery, narrow leaves. Other varieties have white or yellow outer petals, known as the ‘perianth’, or orange or white centers, known as the ‘cup’. All are good cut flowers that are quite fragrant.

Because it is best to leave narcissus foliage to yellow and abscise (shed) naturally after bloom and as weather gets warmer, ground covers that are deep enough to conceal their deteriorating foliage are practical companions. (For example, deteriorating narcissus foliage can be stuffed under healthy English ivy, where it can be hidden without being removed.) Ground cover also keeps the soil from being bare during summer and autumn dormancy.

Mature clumps of narcissus bulbs only need to be dug and divided if they become so crowded that they do not bloom as much as they should. They are easiest to dig immediately after foliage dies back and lies on the ground, when they are dormant but still easy to find. Dug bulbs should then be stored in a cool dry place until it is time to plant them late in summer. Bulbs should be planted about five inches deep and about five to eight inches apart, with good sun exposure. The largest bulbs with multiple buds (known as ‘noses’) bloom most abundantly.

If they are happy in their location, narcissus easily naturalize, even if they do not get divided occasionally. They get most of the water they need from rain, since they are mostly dormant before dry weather in summer. Gophers and deer do not bother them.