Bulbs to Light Up Beds and Borders

7/28/2019 Bulbs to Light Up Beds and Borders

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Exploring Perennial Partners41

Pairing bulbs with perennials is asure way to get the most out of every bitof garden space. From the last days of winter

to the last days of fall, these versatile beauties

add a bounty of cheerful color and seasonal

interest, all wrapped up in one easy-care

package.

The Early Birds. Spring is prime timefor the most well-known bulbs, including cro-

cus, daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips. These

classics are just the tip of the iceberg, though.

There are also many so-called minor bulbs,

such as checkered lily (Fritillaria meleagris),

glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa), and snow-

drops (Galanthus).These lesser-known

lovelies often have smaller flowers and more

natural-looking forms, which make them

more comfortable perennial partners than are

their highly hybridized cousins, especially in

informal settings such as woodland walks and

cottage gardens.

You can choose bulbs that match the over-

all color theme for your garden, or you cando something completely different. For an

elegant effect, consider a monochromatic

theme, such as all-white or all-pink bulbs.

Alternatively, you can celebrate springs

return with a cheerful combination of colors;

its tough to make a bad combination with

early-spring bulbs. As the season progresses

and your perennials start coming into bloom,

youll need to be more careful about avoiding

color clashes.To get the best effect with spring bulbs, be

generous with the size of the clumps: Plant

6 to 12 bulbs in each, depending on their size.

Spotting single bulbs here and there or

worse yet, planting them in straight lines like

soldiers is guaranteed to produce disap-

pointing results.

Bulbs to Light Up Beds & BordersWhichever spring bulbs you choose,

remember that the leaves will wither and die

after flowering, leaving a bare space in your

garden by midsummer. One of Stephanies

favorite tricks is to tuck bulbs around day-

lilies (Hemerocallis) and hostas, which will

cover up the declining bulb foliage and readily

fill in the gaps. Tall or bushy perennials can

TURN ON S PRI NG . Tulips are

many gardeners bulb of choice

when it comes to spring favorites.


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42 perennia l des ig n dem y stif i ed

perform the same function, especially if you

keep bulb clumps near the back of the border.

(At the time the bulbs are in full bloom, the

perennials are just coming up, so they wont

block your spring bulb display.) If youre still

left with gaps once the bulbs die back, you

can always tuck in a few annuals as fillers for

the rest of the season.

Whatever you decide, please dont be

tempted simply to cut off the dying leaves or

to braid or fold them into tidy, rubber-banded

bundles. Your bulbs need all of their leaves

for as long as possible to produce energy to

store for next years flowers. One exception is

hybrid tulips. They often die out in a year or

two in perennial gardens, because they prefer

hot, dry conditions in summer not the

moist, mulched soil that most perennials like.

If you really want to grow hybrid tulips with

your perennials, you may have to pull out the

tulip plants as soon as the flowers drop and

put in new bulbs each fall.

Summer Sizzle.True lilies (Lilium),foxtail lilies (Eremurus), and other summer

bulbs that pop up among your perennials give

the garden an extra dimension of drama and

excitement. They generally look best in small

groups of three or five plants (an uneven

number is best) rising out of or behind other

perennials. Like spring bulbs, hardy summer-

flowering bulbs will die back to the ground

once theyve finished blooming, so you need

to make sure their companions will cover up

the yellowing foliage. This can be particularlytricky with lilies, which bear foliage all the

way up their flowering stems. Planting a 3-

foot-tall lily and making it disappear is easy,

but with 5- to 6-foot-tall lilies, youre left with

the ugly post-bloom stems for several weeks.

An interesting solution is to plant seeds or

starts of an annual vine, such as hyacinth

bean (Lablab purpureus), around the base of

the lily stems in late spring or early summer.

Once the lilies have flowered, their stemsserve as natural supports for the climber.

FLOWERS WI TH

FLAI R . Cannas are

guaranteed to

introduce exuberance

into any garden.


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Exploring Perennial Partners 43

Just like tender perennials, tender summer

bulbs can be invaluable for adding color and

flair to mid- and late-summer gardens. With

their bright flowers and bold foliage, cannas

provide a tropical look that perfectly suits the

season. If you prefer bulbs that are a smidge

more subtle, dahlias might be more to your

liking. (Were not talking about the dinner-

plate-size flowers that are used for exhibition,

but rather the medium- to small-flowered

dahlias, especially those with dark foliage,

such as Bishop of Llandaff and Ellen Hus-

ton.) Dahlias come in a very wide range of

interesting flower shapes, from pompon to

cactus-style, and their colors range from

palest pastel to vividly vibrant. Many of them

have more than one color in their blossoms,

making it simple to create exciting combina-

tions with other flowers and foliage.

Hardy summer bulbs stay in the ground

year-round and come back season after sea-

son. If youre growing bulbs that arent win-

ter-hardy in your area, either treat them like

annuals and buy new ones each year or dig

them up in fall and store them indoors for

the winter.

The Late Show. Fall has its ownspecial bulb repertoire, from the exquisite to

the downright odd. Hardy cyclamen (Cyclamen

hederifolium) is a gorgeous choice for shady

gardens, with silver-mottled foliage and

dainty pink or white flowers. The foliage is

so beautiful that the flowers are hardly neces-

sary (although theyre certainly a nice accom-

paniment). The strangest of the fall bulbs are

autumn crocuses (Colchicum), fall crocus(Crocus sativus), hardy amaryllis (Amaryllis

belladonna), and spider lilies (Lycoris). It takes

a good bit of trial and error to use these bulbs

effectively because of their unusual life cycle:

Their leaves emerge in spring and disappear

by early summer, then the flowers come up

without leaves in fall. If you plant them

ONCE YOUR BULBS ARE DORMANT, it can be difficult to tell exactly

where they are. If you like to move plants around as much as I do, or

if you need to divide some of your peren-

nials, its all too easy to accidentally

skewer your best bulbs with a spading

fork or slice them in half with a spade. Itsa sickening feeling. My secret is to use

green golf tees to mark the perimeter of each bulb clump before the

leaves die back (if you borrow too many tees from your golfer buddies,

do replace them). The tees blend in from any distance but are easy to

see when youre really looking for them, so they definitely help take

the guesswork out of avoiding buried bulbs. *

Stephanie Says

Say No to

Bulb-kebabs

PREPARE FOR A S URPRI S E . This autumn

crocus (Colchicum Waterlily) bears its blossoms

in fall, long after its spring foliage has disappeared.


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44 perennia l des ig n dem y stif i ed

among taller or bushy perennials to hide their

dying spring foliage, their fall flowers may not

be visible. But if you dont give them any com-

panions, youre stuck with looking at beauti-

ful flowers atop bare stems (in the case of

autumn and fall crocuses, directly against

bare soil). To solve this dilemma, plant them

among relatively low-growing ground covers,

such as ajuga and plumbago (Ceratostigma

plumbaginoides). Because the bulbs generally

bloom in a different season, youll get twice

the color from your ground covers in the

same amount of space.

Planting Pointers. Most bulbs thriveunder typical garden conditions, as long as

the soil is well drained. To add early-flowering

bulbs to your perennial plantings, you must

get them in the ground in fall, or else buy

already started bulbs in pots in spring (a

much more expensive proposition). The

same goes for most hardy summer bloomers,

although some, such as many lilies, can also

be planted in spring. With bulbs that aretender in your area, either start them indoors

in pots in spring, and then set them out after

all danger of frost has passed, or else plant

them directly in your garden after the last

frost. Fall bulbs are typically planted in mid-

to late summer, while they are dormant.

Remember: With any bulbs, its important to

get them in the ground with their pointy side

(the bud) facing up. If they are on their side

(and sometimes even if theyre upside down),theyll usually correct themselves eventually,

but that takes some time and energy away

from the flower display.

Allium (alliums, ornamental onions):A. aflatunense, A. christophii1 ,A. karataviense, A. moly, A. tanguticum Summer Beauty

Anemone blanda (Grecian windflower)

Belamcanda chinensis (blackberry lily)3

Camassia (camassias, quamash)

Colchicum (autumn crocus): Waterlily

Crocus (crocus): C. chrysanthus Ladykiller, C. medius, C. speciosus

Dichelostemma ida-maia (firecracker flower)

Eremurus (foxtail lilies)

Galanthus (snowdrops)

Ipheion (spring starflower): Rolf Fiedler

Iris (bearded iris): Reblooming cultivars, such as Immortality

Lilium (lilies): Black Dragon, Casa Blanca, Lollypop2

Muscari(grape hyacinths)

Narcissus (daffodils): Actaea, February Gold, Jack Snipe,

Mount Hood, Thalia

Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)

Scilla siberica (Siberian squill)

Tulipa (tulips): Hybrids Negrita, Orange Emperor, Queen of the

Night, and Red Riding Hood; species T. kaufmanniana; T. praes-

tans Fusilier and Unicum; T. saxatilis Lilac Wonder

Best Bulbs for Perennial Gardens

Although were relentless in our pursuit of the latest and greatest

perennials, we tend to fall back on old favorites when it comes time

to choosing bulbs for our gardens. Heres a list of some tried-and-true

bulbs wed hate to be without:

From left, clockwise: Star of Persia (Allium christophii)1 ; Lily (Lilium)2 ;

blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinensis)3 .

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Bulbs to Light Up Beds and Borders