If you’ve been following me for a while, you might know that I don’t love fall and winter – spring is by far my favorite season. And what I love about spring is plants coming out of the ground after a long winter, and all the colorful flowers that come with the warmer weather. I wanted to extend the flowering season of my front flower bed that I planted this summer by adding some early spring blooming fall bulbs. Here are some of my tips for choosing bulbs, and to plant fall bulbs to get continuous color throughout the spring.
*This post is sponsored by Veseys Seeds. I received bulbs in exchange for writing this post. All opinions are my own – I’ve never met a bulb I didn’t love*
1. 5 of the best bulbs to plant in the fall
There are many different types of fall bulbs, but the most common ones are tulips, daffodils, crocus, and hyacinth. I planted a mix of these bulbs because they all bloom at slightly different times and have a variety of colors.
Tulips
I planted a mix of tulips that provide blooms for 60 days. This mix has early bloomers, late bloomers, and some in between. This tulip mix comes in a mix of colors including red, yellow, purple and white.
Daffodils
I also planted a mix of daffodils that bloom for 100 days. These also have a mix of blooming times to make sure that there are flowers for 100 days. I love the cheery yellow of daffodils.
Hyacinths
My favorite colors in the garden are pinks and purples – that’s why I was drawn to this smoothie blend hyacinth mix. The colors range from grape purple, to cherry pink, and lighters shades of lilac and cream. They bloom in the early spring and smell delicious.
Crocus
Crocus are some of the earliest flowers to come up, and you can often see the first blooms when there’s still snow on the ground. They are small and compact, and come in either purple, yellow or white.
Grape Hyacinth Muscari
The grape hyacinths have a beautiful deep purple color. These are great for naturalizing a larger area as the bulbs will multiply every year. They are a smaller bulb, and the flowers get a height of about 6″.
2. Determine when to plant fall bulbs
Once you’ve chosen the bulbs you would like, it’s time to plant. The best time to plant fall bulbs is…in the fall. Either September or October when the soil temperatures have cooled down a bit, and about two months before the ground freezes.
3. Determine the planting depth
In general, but bulb size will determine how deep you should plant them. Bigger bulbs should be planted a little deeper, smaller bulbs a little shallower. I planted my daffodils, tulips and hyacinths about 8-10 inches deep, and the crocus and grape hyacinths about 4 inches deep.
4. Add some fertilizer to the hole
I threw a small hand full of bone meal and blood meal to the hole. Squirrels can sometimes dig up the tulips bulbs and eat them, but the blood meal is a deterrent for animals. These also will give the bulbs a little extra nutrients they can absorb over the winter.
5. Plant fall bulbs
Next just put the bulb in the hole, root side down, and cover it up again with soil. The bulbs will grow roots over the winter, and provide some amazing color in the spring! I already can’t wait. What is your favorite type or color of fall bulb?
Oooh fabulous post Jess! We just did our front garden in many of your top picks above although the squirrels seem to be transplanting what we just planted! LOL!
I hate when the squirrels do that!