Once you have selected and prepared your garden site for your perennial bulb flower garden, the next step will be selecting which varieties and colors you will plant, and then putting them in the ground. Here are some tips for choosing and planting your perennial bulbs:
Purchasing Perennial Bulbs
Choose the best quality bulbs you can afford if you want flowers quickly. Discounted, small and misshapen bulbs may take years to flower, if at all. If you are purchasing from a plant nursery and are able to inspect the bulbs yourself, select those perennial bulbs that have no visible blemishes or cuts. Perennial bulbs should be firm to touch, no soft spots anywhere.
There are a variety of garden catalogs that also sell perennial bulbs online. When buying online you will not be able to select the bulbs yourself, so it is even more important that the bulbs are listed as top grade so you will not be disappointed come next spring.
Designing with Perennial Bulbs
You may want to consider planting an early spring perennial bulb garden in a spot where you can enjoy it from indoors as well as outdoors. Placing your perennial bulb flower garden in view of a large window will allow you to enjoy early spring colors even when it is cold outside. But you should also consider what the space will look like once the flowers have faded. You should not mow or cut the foliage down if you want to have blooms again the next year, and the fading leaves are often not an attractive site and you may want to consider planting other plants in the same area that can distract from the fading foliage during the rest of the year.
When you think about designing your perennial bulb flower garden you should also consider color combination schemes. Are the colors you are selecting bulbs for complementary, or will they clash? Finally, find out what the blooming periods are for each bulb species and coordinate these as well. When done well, your perennial bulbs will provide beautiful color for months each year.
For more information about perennial bulb gardening, I strongly recommend you consider picking up a copy of Anna Pavord's lovely book: Bulb.In the book you will find nearly six hundred different entries about different bulbs and tubers you can grow, including detailed descriptions of the blooms, the plant size, hardiness levels, native areas they are found in, and their bloom seasons. The book is wonderfully written and each entry contains photographs of individual bulb blossoms. Easily one of the most definitive books on the topic, and a necessity for any serious perennial bulb gardener! Click here to get it on sale now at Amazon.com!
