Spring Flowering Bulbs

Besides planting the popular favourites such as Narcissus (daffodil) and Tulipa (tulip)  there are many more spring-flowering bulbs to choose from including Crocus, Hyacinth, Galanthus (snowdrop) Cyclamen, Fritillaria, Iris, Muscari and Scilla. There are images below  of some of the many different spring bulbs.

If you are buying spring bulbs loose at the garden center, select those which are of a good size and firm, as if you were picking onions in the supermarket avoid any that feel soft. 

Plus do you know you can re use old compost for spring bulbs no need to splash out on expensive compost- read more here.

 September is the time for planting most spring bulbs, although Hyacinth and Tulips should be left until October or even November.  There are so many spring bulbs to choose from, checkout the Pinterest pages for ideas and inspiration, Tulips and also Pinterest Spring bulbs. 

One of the most important points to get spring-flowering bulbs to flower successfully, and to re- appear and flower again,  is to plant them at the correct depth, (see table on correct planting depths for spring bulbs) and an absence of mice or squirrels. Unfortunately, squirrels can smell the bulbs and often dig them up. If this is a problem where you are, sink some chicken wire over the bulbs to fight off the squirrels.   Although failure of spring bulbs to flower is often caused by being planted too shallow,  many tulips will not come again a second year and are best treated as annuals.

What about Daffodils?

Daffodils should come back year after year.  I have a strong preference for scented Daffodils and grow both Bridal Crown and Actaea which are lovely and make good cut flowers. Scented award winning Daffodils include 'Bridal Crown' N. 'Hoopoe' yellow with scented flowers; 'Actaea' white and scented and 'My Story'.

If you are planting a display of spring bulbs,  it's worth considering the variation flowering times. We know snowdrops flower early and Tulips much later, but there's more too it. Both Daffodils and Tulips each have a range of flowering times including early, mid-season and late. This means if you want certain combinations, say pink tulips with blue forget- me- nots, you will need a late flowering Tulip. If you want a combination of say red/orange tulip with Daffodil, you will need to check the exact type to ensure they will flower together. 

A quick rule of thumb is to plant all bulbs three times the depth of the type of bulb. This means shallower for smaller bulbs, deeper for large bulbs. For example, a snowdrop, as a tiny bulb, will be planted quite shallow;  a large tulip planting will be deeper around 15cms.  All Spring-flowering bulbs grow well in containers when they can be planted in layers when precise depth is less important provided the bulbs are not planted too shallow.  More about growing daffodils.

Detailed advice and images on how to plant spring bulbs

  Of all the spring bulbs, snowdrops can sometimes be tricky to get started, How to plant and grow snowdrops.