All too soon, summer blooming bulbs will fade and die as the first frosts arrive. Meanwhile, garden centres are overflowing with their spring cousins that require planting over the next few weeks.
Only the ignorant leave the former to rot in the ground during winter. Tuberous begonias, canna lilies, dahlias and gladioli can all be dug up once their foliage has been frost-killed, cleaned of all traces of soil and stored, carefully labelled, buried in bone-dry peat moss. Keep in a cool, frost-free basement until March then pot a few up to get a jump start on summer, saving the rest for planting out when the soil warms – about the same time as tomato and pepper plants.
Other than cutting back the dead tops of lilies, however, leave them strictly alone. They dislike being disturbed in their garden beds. Left undisturbed they will multiply and return for another season’s display.
Although tulips may be planted as late as November, most bulbs will do better planted earlier. This allows the to form the maximum amount of root necessary to successfully bloom next spring before the ground freezes solid.
Some are even best planted in September to assure success. These include the saffron crocus (
C. sativus), famed for its culinary association and Colchicum, both of which bloom in the early fall, often shortly after planting. Snowdrops (
Nivalis) and Spanish Bluebells (
Hyacinthoides hispanica) also tend to dry out if kept out of the ground for too long.
Botanically, Narcissus and Daffodils are one and the same. Despite assurances from retailers, they too are best planted early – in their case by the end of October. Look for scented forms to plant near frequently used doors and pathways.
Muscari in various shades of blue are also sweetly scented. Like Narcissus and Daffodils, they naturalize easily, returning reliably year after year. They have, however, one distressing habit for the uninitiated: they push up foliage in fall. Simple advice: ignore and they will still produce abundantly next spring.
Muscari are sometimes confusingly known as Grape Hyacinths, which, of course they are neither. True Hyacinths offer their delicious perfume in mid-spring. True they will return for future seasons but as a shadow of their former selves, reverting closer to the wild form rather than the modern hybrids offered in stores this fall.
So when is the best time to plant tulips? Tip: when the fall colours are at their height. Like Hyacinths, most tulips are reluctant to reliably rebloom in future seasons. Notable exceptions are those confusingly known as ‘Botanical Tulips” which, despite their name are actually hybrids.
All this will likely go to waste if the bubs are of the “bargain basement” variety. The simple rule is: the bigger the bulb, the better the blooms. It follows, of course, that the bigger the bulb, the more it costs. But, as with most gardening practices, there are ways to get the best for your buck.
The Dutch used to call them ‘minor bulbs’ but although, true, they are small in size they are generous with their blooms and also require planting but once. They are also comparatively cheap – a dozen or more for the price you would expect to pay for one to three larger bulbs.
Then there are Narcissus and Daffodils: choose them loose from bins and select those with double or triple “noses”: clumps of two or three, to get more bang for your buck. If you are not particularly worried about purchasing named varieties, look for “naturalizing” selections.
