Fall-planted bulbs capture the gardener’s optimistic outlook. Just when the earth is getting ready to sleep for the cold winter ahead and plants are going dormant, forward thinking gardeners plant bulbs for next year’s bloom. Bulbs planted in the fall need cold weather to produce their blooms. After a long winter these bright flowers appear each spring, to bloom again and again.
Perennials & bulbs.
Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Creative Homeowner, c2009.
Smart Guide: Perennials #38; Bulbs covers information on designing gardens, improving the soil, planting, fertilizing, and maintaining perennials and bulbs. The book contains information on buying plants, starting plants from seeds, and transplanting. Step-by-step photos illustrate the necessary gardening techniques.
Buried treasures : finding and growing the world's choicest bulbs
Janis Rukšans.
Portland, Or. : Timber Press, 2007.
"Take a few chapters from a John le Carre spy thriller, add a hefty dose of exotic travelogue, blend with one of the best books on bulb growing ever written, and you've got Buried Treasures. Since launching his first international mail-order catalog in 1991, Latvian nurseryman Janis Ruksans has rapidly gained a reputation as one of the world's foremost experts on rare and unusual bulbs: Juno irises striped like exotic birds; gemlike corydalis; dusky, brooding fritillaries. For decades, Ruksans has been scouring remote and dangerous regions of Europe and Asia to bring back the botanical treasures that he offers through his nursery, often contending with corrupt government agents, armed rebels, drunken drivers, and even (before the fall of the Soviet Union) the KGB."--BOOK JACKET.
Garden bulbs for the South
Scott Ogden.
Portland, OR. : Timber Press, 2007.
"There are hundreds of choice bulbs that revel in southern warmth and humidity, and Scott Ogden profiles the best of them in this comprehensive volume. In a series of chapters that takes us through the gardening year, Ogden introduces the plants that help to give southern gardens their distinct regional flavor, many with descriptive names: rain lilies, ginger lilies, spiderlilies, ox-blood lilies, jonquils, campernelles, crinums, and scores of others. Weaving in bits of history and lore, Ogden details each plant's appearance and growing requirements. For those who may have had difficulty in locating sources for the plants he discusses, Ogden includes an extensive list of mail-order nurseries. Originally published in 1994, Garden Bulbs for the South has been updated and significantly expanded in this edition to include information on new varieties as well as nearly one hundred new photographs."--BOOK JACKET.
Bulbs do well in loose, rich soil that drains well. They cannot be water logged or else they will rot. Plant bulbs under the soil line, digging down about 3 times the height of the bulb. Look for the pointed end and turn it up since this is the where the crown will form. However, if a bulb is mistakenly planted upside down, it will right itself over time.
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Unusual bulbs for
St. Louis gardens
Allium –very hardy and showy, round florets form a dense ball that sit atop a single stalk. Many varieties, color range is white, blue, purple.
Eremurus -also known as "Desert Candles" or "Foxtail Lilies", these graceful spires of dense flowers are one of the most spectacular early-summer blooms. |
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Hyacinths – known for their strong scent, these short strong beauties come in pink, yellow, white, and blue.
Scilla – good for naturalizing, some varieties are bright blue and very early to bloom. |
Landscaping with fall planted bulbs is easy. Small bulbs look best planted in clumps of 3 or 5 bulbs, or large expanses of them can be "naturalized" by planting in large drifts. Daffodils and tulips are among the best known and most versatile landscape bulbs for this purpose. Large bulbs that produce interesting or unusual flowers may look best planted alone for greater impact.
Bulbs usually last many years. Some bulbs will fade out over time, but others will produce flowers reliably year after year. Bulbs that get enough sun and nutrients may reward the gardener by reproducing more bulbs.
More about bulbs
Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff
