This October is the ideal time to start planting spring-flowering bulbs. It’s an easy way to bring you colourful, scented joy for months on end from early New Year onwards.
The Main Spring-Flowering Bulbs
Snowdrops (Galanthus)
The pure white flowers of snowdrops are some of the earliest to appear in the early New Year. But don’t let the delicate look of the flowers fool you. They are one of the toughest, pushing through frozen soil without any problems whatsoever!
Easy to grow and naturalise, bulbs can be planted now. You can scatter them on the soil and plant them two to three times as deep as the bulb’s height. Position them in the sun or part shade, with the pointed tip facing upwards.
Alternatively, you can wait until they have finished flowering in the spring. Then, buy them from reputable suppliers whilst they are still in leaf, known as buying ‘in the green’.
Many different varieties are available, with prices ranging from a couple of pounds to one thousand pounds! Still one of the best, cheapest and easiest to grow is the classic Galanthus nivalis. This type is most often seen en masse in grassland and under trees.
Dwarf Iris (Iris reticulata) and Dutch Iris (Iris hollandica)
Dwarf iris is also very early to flower, producing intricately marked, coloured petals. Whilst small in size, these blooms are certainly big on impact. They perform best when grown in full sun. And, although ideal for planting in pots or rockeries, they also look wonderful planted in front of the border.
Dwarf Iris can be bought in mixed or individual colours. These range from the pastel-coloured ‘Katharine Hodgkin,’ to the sumptuous purple and white shades of ‘Spot On’.
Dutch irises on the other hand are much taller, reaching between 50cm and 70cm in height. And they flower from late spring into early summer. There are many different varieties, many of which are fascinating and sumptuous looking. For example, ‘Eye of the Tiger’ and ‘Lion King’ are ideal for flower arranging due to their long vase life.
Crocus
The goblet-shaped flowers on these early flowering, low-growers are perfect for providing blasts of cheerful colour on cold, dreary days. Plus, they offer much-needed nectar for bumblebees looking for sustenance during the late winter and early spring.
Best planted in groups to maximise floral impact, there is a colour to suit everyone’s tastes. From the pure white of ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ to the pastel lavender of C. tommasinianus. Or even the striking aubergine-purple and white stripes of ‘Panda’ to the warm orange shades of ‘Orange Monarch’.
Hyacinths
Hyacinths are a must-have for sweetly scented, spring flowers that can often be smelt before you reach their planting spot. They are also available in most of the colours of the rainbow, producing upright flowers that last for several weeks.
The most commonly available colours are pink (‘Pink Pearl’), navy, (‘Royal Navy’) and white (‘Carnegie’). However, there are also purple colour flowers (‘Miss Saigon’) and deep, dark, almost black, blue (‘Dark Dimension’). Fantastic and popular spring-flowering bulbs.
Daffodil (Narcissus)
These much-loved, easy-to-grow bulbs are available in a host of different shades of yellow and white (and recently pink). Various cultivars provide colour from late winter all the way to mid-spring. These are also best planted in groups with space to allow them to spread and naturalise.
With different heights and petal sizes, they can be grown in borders, pots and grass and under deciduous trees. Many are also sweetly fragrant such as N. tazetta ‘Paperwhite’ and ‘Flower Parade’.
Bluebells
Who doesn’t love the sight of a haze of soft bluebell flowers in a deciduous woodland clearing on a spring morning? The epitome of romanticism their elegant, nodding, bell-like flowers are not only beautiful to look at. But they are also a great source of nectar for spring-flying pollinating insects.
Make sure you are buying bulbs for the English Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and not the invasive Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica). This can be identified by having broader leaves than our native bluebell and flowers all around the stem. Again, best planted en masse for the best visual effect.
Anemones
Woodland anemones (Anemone blanda) are very easy to grow spring-flowering bulbs and low maintenance. This makes them the ideal choice for novice gardeners or those with little time to garden. Available in a range of pretty, pastel shades such as ‘Charmer’ and ‘Blue Shades’, which grow best in part shade.
There are also larger flowered hybrid varieties better suited to sunny positions, such as ‘Mistral Rarity’ and ‘Radiant Rainbows.’
Grape Hyacinth (Muscari)
Following on from anemones in mid-spring, these bulbs look particularly good in a cottage-style or wildlife garden setting. Additionally, they have flowers that attract many beneficial pollinating insects. Most of the varieties available are shades of blue.
Alternatively, there are now also pale pink and white coloured flowers such as ‘Pink Sunrise’ and ‘White Magic’.
Allium (Ornamental Onions)
Alliums are a great spring-flowering bulb for continuing the colour display into mid and late spring. Many varieties have architecturally striking, spherical-shaped flowers held on long, stout, flower spikes. Design-wise they can be planted in ribbon formation throughout a flower border or grouped together. Both of which will provide structure and striking colour combinations.
One of the most popular and freely available varieties is ‘Purple Sensation’. This variety’s dried flower heads make great Christmas decorations, but be aware, they can freely self-seed.
‘White Giant’ has the same spherical flower heads but all white. And A. schubertii produces amazing, unusual, firework-like blooms which also make great decorations once dried.
Tulips
Last but not least the ever-popular tulips. Unlike all the bulbs above, tulips should not be planted until the end of October into early November. If planted when the weather is mild, they have a greater chance of succumbing to a fungal disease ‘tulip fire’. This stops the bulb from flowering and prevents tulips from being grown in that soil for several years after.
Tulip flowers create some of the most spectacular spring displays. This is because there is a massive range of different coloured and petal-shaped flowers to choose from. Early, mid and late spring flowering varieties are all available.
Some, such as ‘Ballerina’ are sweetly scented. Others are reliably perennial, such as ‘Pink Impression’ which means they can be left in the ground from year to year.
They also look fantastic planted in containers to brighten up paved areas, or if space in the garden is limited.
How to plant and grow spring-flowering bulbs
- Plant from September to late November, except for tulips which should be planted late October.
- Make a hole twice or three times as deep as the bulb is high.
- If planting en masse scatter the bulbs with your hands before planting to create a naturalistic effect.
- If the bulb has a pointed end position with the point facing upwards.
- Plant medium to large size bulbs in individual holes; smaller bulbs can have a few planted in the same hole.
- Cover the bulbs with soil and leave over winter.
- If the soil is dry on planting, water once to help get them started and then leave over winter.
- After flowering do not remove leaves for at least 6 weeks to allow the bulb to store energy for next year’s flowers.
For more bulb-planting inspiration:
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David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
Nice post. I have garden and I want to plant a bulbs. I agree with you that Crocus and daffodils are especially popular naturalised under the lawn. There are lots of lawn in my garden so Crocus and daffodils will be the best for my garden. Definitely, I will plant them in my garden.
I do gardening therapy sessions with dementia patients and they love the lasagne bulb planting. Last year it was a show stopper so i highly recommend it.