Fall Bulbs For Spring Blooms
DESIGN | by DEBRA PRINZING
INVEST IN NEXT YEAR’S GARDEN by planting spring-flowering bulbs in October. For a few dollars per bag of tulip or daffodil bulbs (and a little elbow grease), you can plop bulbs into the ground and cover them with soil. Wait a few months and you’ll enjoy the payoff: A spring garden filled with cheery blooms.

© DEBRA PRINZING
Planting bulbs is almost foolproof, says Becky Heath, co-owner of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs of Gloucester, Va. “Even if you’re a beginner, bulbs are probably the easiest plants to grow,” she promises.
Here are my five favorite bulbs to plant this fall:
Allium: An ornamental onion, alliums lend architectural drama to the garden with gorgeous pink, white and purple tennis-ball-sized blooms on tall stalks. ‘Globemaster’ is the hands-down favorite.
Crocus: Usually the very first bulbs to emerge from the soil (or even late snowfall), these tiny cup-shaped flowers with yellow, gold, cream and lavender petals look charming when planted into a lawn or rock garden.
Daffodil: ‘King Alfred’ daffodils explode in primary-yellow, trumpet-shaped blooms. Warm climate gardeners should try tazetta daffodils, with tiny sprays of flowers (tazetta means “small cup” in Italian).
Hyacinthus: Hyacinths are composed of many intensely fragrant, tubular florets that cover the 8- to 10- inch stem as a single flower head. When I’ve forgotten to plant them in fall, I “force” hyacinths indoors in winter. Like growing an avocado pit when you were a kid, you can root a hyacinth bulb in water and watch its stem, leaves and bloom emerge in your windowsill.
Tulip: The queen of all spring flowering bulbs, tulips are wonderful tucked between other perennials. They are also great for containers. My favorite, ‘Princess Irene’, has orange and hot-pink streaks.
Tool to use: I love Lee Valley Tools’ Soil-Replacing Bulb Planter, which is easy on the back and wrist.
















Very good advice. Now if only we had a pool to put those lounge-chairs next to.
We might go for a BBQ though, now seems like a good time for that.