Planning for Next Season – Spring Bulbs

As we enter the fall season, now is the time to begin designing and installing your bulb garden to enjoy a beautiful display in the spring. Spring offers the hope of sunshine, warmer days, and flowers in the garden. Bulbs are often the first flowers of spring. The pastel petals of crocus peeking through a spring snowfall reminds us that it won’t be long. The bright, sunshine yellow daffodils nodding in a spring breeze makes us smile. Let us not forget the tulips, many of which are magnets for the bees.

The same way in which a perennial garden is designed with a range of blooming times from spring through fall, the same is true for a bulb garden. Although the bloom time is not as lengthy, the display of spring bulbs can be designed in a way that creates continuous bloom and color in the garden throughout the spring. 

Feeding the bees early in the spring helps with their overall survival. They have made it through a long, cold winter and are now foraging for food. Plant varieties of Allium, Crocus, and Tulips to give the bees a great start. 

Snowdrops are deer-proof, bee-loved, milky-white naturalizers with dainty pendant-like flowers and emerald green markings. Popping their heads up early in the spring, March, and April, they are symbols of purity and hope and are best grown in partial sunlight.

Let’s not forget hyacinths or blue-grape hyacinths for their form and sweet, grapey fragrance. The latter is small; however, the impact is significant!

How many to plant? Great question! For 50 square feet, plant 450 small bulbs 4” apart or 200 large bulbs 6” apart for a beautiful display.

• Watering is essential: Because we are experiencing mild drought conditions here in New England, water early in the day if possible, or use a soaker hose. Both techniques help avoid fungal plant diseases.
• Don’t forget about the lawn! A deep irrigation at this time of year will help give your grass a good start going into the fall season.
• Good bugs: Avoid using pest lures that attract everyone else’s pests to your landscape. The “bug zappers” that use light to attract flying insects and trap them often catch the “good” bugs that are beneficial to the garden.

Check out these two short videos of our favorite pollinators: Bees & Butterflies!

• Bees Feeding (less than one minute)

• Butterflies on Pink Coneflowers (less than one minute)