Planting Bulbs For Beautiful Flowers
Easy To Grow Garden Bulbs In Containers And Borders Add Fantastic Color To Your Garden!

Bulb flowers are simply a must have in any garden! They add so much color during the year. Particularly the spring flower bulbs like daffodils, tulips or crocus just can't be missed. For me, once I see them opening their colorful flowers, it is the start of another gardening year and I know that the winter is over. Planting these bulbs is little effort and rewards you for years!

Planting bulbs in the fall results in a splash of early spring color, while some varieties you plant in the spring in order to enjoy an abundance of colorful summer and fall flowers.

Growing Conditions For Garden Bulbs

Choosing the right flower species for the growing conditions in your particular area is important. How much sun the flower bulbs require also needs to be considered before planting bulbs.

Soil Preparation

Soil preparation for bulbs requires breaking the soil up at least eight inches deep and testing the pH level of the soil. Soil testing kits will tell you what the pH level of your soil is. Planting bulbs in soil that is between 6.0 and 7.0 pH is ideal.

Add granular, liquid or organic fertilizers to the soil but ensure the bulb is not in direct contact with the fertilizer. Specific bulb fertilizers are available that are sprinkled on top of the soil after the bulb is planted.

How to Plant Bulbs

When planting spring flower bulbs, it is a good idea to follow the spacing and depth recommendations included on the package. All bulbs should be placed fat end down and loosely covered with dirt. If planting instructions are missing, you will plant most bulbs twice as deep as the bulb is long. Tall plants should have a foot of space between them and short plants spaced six inches apart.

Maintenance and Aftercare

Unlike some flowers, the maintenance and aftercare of garden bulbs is easy, just make sure you pull weeds as they appear and avoid using chemical herbicides. Removing old flowers as they wither allows the bulb plant to produce a healthy, strong bulb for replanting. Once planted, these types of flowers require little watering, feeding and are very low maintenance.

Important is to let the foliage die back naturally. Don't feel tempted to cut back the leaves once the flowers have finished. The bulb plants will move all the energy and nutrients that are in the leaves back into the bulb for the next flowering season. Also if you have spring flower bulbs like crocus or narcissi in the lawn you have to cut the grass around them and wait until the leaves have died back before you mow the grass.

Pests and Diseases

A few pests and diseases will attack bulb flowers including moles, shrews and voles, and the occasional squirrel may dine on bulbs. Insect pests include slugs, aphids, Japanese beetles and wireworms, many of which can be controlled by planting anti bug plants like marigolds, catnip and rue near the bulb plants.

Bulb plants are hardy and rarely affected by disease; however, blight and fungus can occur especially if bulbs are planted in loam soils. Ensuring proper drainage, applying a fungicide prior to planting bulbs and removing any diseased plants will keep these flowers healthy.

Flowering Times For Garden Bulbs

Planting spring flower bulbs like daffodils, hyacinths and crocus will produce flowers as early as late February in some areas. Mid-summer flowering bulbs include the various species of allium and late blooming bulbs like anemones provide late summer color.

You can trick some bulbs, such as amaryllis, crocus, daffodils, hyacinths, narcissus and tulips into flowering out of season by planting indoors in the winter.

Varieties of Bulb Plants

The varieties of bulb plants and various hybrids include the alliums that produce a very tall flower stem and blooms in late spring and summer, calla lilies, anemone, hundreds of lily's, dahlias, four o'clock's, freesia and many varieties of daffodils, tulips, iris's and crocus including hybrids add unique shapes and colors to any garden.

Not only does planting bulbs provide a splash of color from early spring to late summer, but being low maintenance, hardy and self propagating makes bulbs a perfect garden choice.

Now just choose, from the list below, the type of advice you are looking for,
and click and go...

1...Daffodil Bulbs:
Planting Daffodils and Narcissus flowers is so easy and will give you so much joy in the spring! Learn about daffodil care and the different daffodil varieties.

2...Growing Tulips:
Plant some tulip bulbs for spring color! Learn about tulips care and how to plant tulip bulbs.

3...Growing Crocus Bulbs:
Don't miss out on crocus flowers in your garden and plant some of these easy to grow bulbs this fall!

4...Amaryllis Care:
Plant Amaryllis bulbs and enjoy their colorful flowers! Amaryllis Flowers are great house plants and add color during the dull winter months.

5...Calla Lily Plant Care:
Calla Lily bulbs will brighten up your flower beds and pots with their exotic looking flowers. You can even grow arum lilies them as a house plant.

Come back often because we are adding informative articles on a regular basis...and many more videos too!

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