Bulbs
Bulbs, while reigning high for their heavy spring impact, make for impressive aesthetic effect year-round in the garden. Their blooming and passing mark the beginnings and ends of each season, signaling to the gardener the tasks to come next in the cycle of seasons. There are categories of bulbs for every type of gardener whether you can’t get enough of the voluminous pastel standouts or prefer the naturalizing woodland heirlooms. Below, we’ve highlighted a few of the bulbs we use on Great Hill and our experiences with each.
Flowering onion- Allium
Zone: 3-10
Light Requirements: Full Sun
Soil Preference: Medium moisture well drained soils
Pests/disease: None serious.
Attributes: Allium are a rabbit, rodent and deer resistant summer flowering bulb. They are pollinator friendly, disease resistant and make a great cut and dried flower. There are many different species and varieties of allium coming in a range of heights, sizes and colors from tiny mixed naturalizers to large globed drumsticks and many in between.
Our Experience: On Great Hill we use allium not only for its aesthetic qualities, but also as a rodent deterrent in our spring bulb beds. Mixing in narcissus and allium amongst your tulips helps to keep rodents from devouring your hard work. To make a big late spring/early summer statement, the globe allium are hard to beat. For bigger varieties, plant bulbs 6-8” deep and 8-10” apart, for smaller, 4” deep and 3-4” apart.
Winter Aconite- Eranthis hyemalis
Zone: 5-8
Light Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil Preference: Medium moisture well drained soils
Pests/disease: None serious.
Attributes: Eranthis are an early spring blooming, deer and rodent resistant naturalizer. This bulb produces a green foliage rosette and bright yellow flowers with a yellow center- a lot of interest in a petite package, growing only to 4.” Big attractor of early pollinators.
Our Experience: We use eranthis for very early spring interest along woodland borders and throughout our shade garden. Although very small, it doesn’t get missed as the bright yellow flowers pop brilliantly in the late winter/early spring landscape. Eranthis spreads, if happy, by producing bulb offsets called bulbils, and sometimes self-sows.
Snowdrops- Galathus
Zone: 3-8
Light Requirements: Part Sun
Soil Preference: Medium moisture well drained soils
Pests/disease: None serious.
Attributes: Galanthus are a late winter/early spring bulb that prefer partially shady and woodland areas and grow 5-8”. This bulb commonly emerges and blooms through the snow with a white bell-shaped flower and small green foliage. Deer and rodent resistant
Our Experience: Galanthus are a self-seeding harbinger of spring and are best when naturalized in woody areas. Galanthus is a welcomed sight after a long winter. Plant 4” deep and 2-4” apart.
Hyacinth- Hyacinthus orientalis
Zone: 4-8
Light Requirements: Full Sun
Soil Preference: Medium moisture well drained soils
Pests/disease: None serious. Rodent damage.
Attributes: Hyacinth are a fragrant spring flowering bulb growing 8-12.” Spikes of tubular flowers come in variations of blue, pink, red, white and purple. While the preference is full sun, they do tolerate afternoon shade. A very popular bedding annual and cut flower in the spring and a favorite of pollinators.
Our Experience: Nothing beats the fragrance of hyacinth in the spring after a long winter. While they’re suited for a showy spring garden bed, container, or in a spring cut arrangement, they do not naturalize well (use hyacinthoides for natural areas). They have long been advertised as deer and rabbit resistant, however, we’ve found that either will browse hyacinth when desperate, and rodents will still eat hyacinth bulbs under the soil. Plant 6” deep and 6” apart.
Hardy lilies- Lilium
Zone: 3-8
Light Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil Preference: Medium moisture well drained soils
Pests/disease: Botrytis, aphids, lily leaf beetle and bulb rot
Attributes: Hardy lilies are perennial bulbs separated into 8 divisions for classification purposes. These divisions are based on bloom time, flower type and habit. Hardy lilies bloom between June and August, grow 1-8’ and are often fragrant. Their flowers come in many colors and shapes but are usually trumpet, bell or bowl shaped and sit atop stiff, unbranched stems. Lilies can be grown in containers, but flowers are often smaller.
Our Experience: Lilies make the most impact in big borders for summer color. While low maintenance, they aren’t fond of root disturbance, so it’s helpful to remember where they are while dormant in early spring. We have our lilies on a treatment program for lily leaf beetles in the spring as the damage from this insect can be devastating.
Grape hyacinth- Muscari
Zone: 4-8
Light Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil Preference: Medium moisture well drained soils
Pests/disease: None serious.
Attributes: Muscari are a spring flowering bulb with grape like fragrance that grow 4-12.” They have blue, yellow, pink, purple or white urn shaped flowers in conical racemes that are deer, but not rodent resistant.
Our Experience: Muscari is used for drifts of color along wood lines and at the front of spring borders on Great Hill. Often, muscari foliage will grow in the fall. When this happens ignore it and mulch the bed after the soil freezes. A good forced flower. Plant 5” deep and 3-4” apart.
Daffodil- Narcissus
Zone: 4-8
Light Requirements: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil Preference: Medium moisture well drained soils
Pests/disease: None Serious
Attributes: Daffodils are perennial bulbs with a trumpet shaped flower surrounded by petals that grow 6-30.” Like tulips, daffodils are sorted into groups depending on flower size, type and bloom time. Daff’s come in many shades of yellow and white along with pink, orange, green and red. Daffodils bloom from early March to late April and are sometimes fragrant.
Our Experience: We use a wide variety of daffodils for spring interest on Great Hill in both manicured bedding and naturalized woody areas. They are long blooming, a great cut flower, and are reliable year after year. Left alone by rodents, deer and disease, they are high impact and low maintenance. Plant in the fall 6-8” deep and 6” apart.
Tulip- Tulipa
Zone: 3-8
Light Requirements: Full Sun
Soil Preference: Medium moisture, well drained soils
Pests/disease: Bulb and root rot, mosaic virus, botrytis blight, rodent damage
Attributes: Tulips are a popular spring flowering bulb, planted in the fall, that come in almost every color and are separated into groups or divisions based on traits such as bloom time or flower form. Tulips bloom from late March to late May and are generally cup or bowl shaped with either single or double flowers. Sizes range from 6-24.”
Our Experience: While tulips are hard to beat in the spring for color and cut flower use, we’ve started using less of them over the past few seasons. On Great Hill, we’ve had increasing issue with rodent damage and botrytis blight and have started incorporating bulbs such a daffodil and allium into our bedding areas as the critters don’t find either edible and as neither are prone to disease. That said, the tulip is a spring bedding standard, long blooming so long as the weather is mild, and available in many colors and sizes. As they drastically decline in performance after the first year, many use tulips as annuals, replanting each fall. The general rule of thumb is to plant tulips 6” deep and 6” apart once nighttime temps drop into the 40’s consistently.
Glory of the snow- Chionodoxa
Zone: 4-9
Light Requirements: Full Sun
Soil Preference: Medium moisture, well drained soils
Pests/disease: No serious insect/disease problems. Are not bothered by wildlife.
Attributes: Chionodoxa are one of springs earliest bloomers emerging in early April. It has up to ten star shaped, six petaled clustered flowers with bright white centers and narrow sparse foliage. Flowers are blue, white or pink. They grow 5 to 6″ and are deer and rabbit resistant. Chionodoxa naturalized readily by way of bulb offsets called bulbils.
Our Experience: We have chionodoxa naturalized throughout several of our mixed border beds on Great Hill. Being one of the earliest spring bulbs, they are a welcomed sight to mark the start of each season. They naturalize readily and are largely left alone by deer and rabbits. While not as vigorus in shadier spots, we do have several clumps that have naturalized without full sun conditions. Plant 4″ deep and 4″ apart.
Grecian Windflower- Anemone blanda
Zone: 5-8
Light Requirements: Full to part sun
Soil Preference: Medium moisture, well drained soils
Pests/disease: Leaf spot, rhizome rot.
Attributes: Anemone blanda is a rodent resistant ground cover that’s technically a corm or tuberous bulb. Flowers in the early spring are daisy like with fern like foliage. Anemone grows 4″ to 8″ and naturalizes over time. Flowers come in blue, pink, white and mixes.
Our Experience: We’ve planted anemone blanda in sun and shade areas of great hill. It does well as an early spring accent before annuals are safe to plant, and goes dormant following flower late spring/ early summer. Plant 4″ deep and 4″ apart. Mulch for winter protection.
Trout lily- Erythronium pagoda
Zone: 4-8
Light Requirements: Part shade to shade
Soil Preference: Medium moisture, well drained soils
Pests/disease: None serious. Deer resistant. Watch for slugs in really wet areas.
Attributes: Trout lily is an early spring flowering woodland bulb with yellow, lily like flowers atop long slender stems with green to brown mottled foliage. Plants grow 12″ to 14″ tall. Prefers dappled shade and moist conditions. Goes dormant following flower in zones with hot summers.
Our Experience: Trout lily adorns the paths and walkways of our woodland shade garden. They are care free and easy bulbs to grow provided cultural needs are met, have a long bloom time and naturalize readily. Plant 4″ deep and 6″ apart.
Striped Squill- Puschkinia scilloides var libanotica
Zone: 4-8
Light Requirements: Full to part sun
Soil Preference: Medium moisture, well drained soils
Pests/disease: None serious. Deer and rodent resistant.
Attributes: Puschkinia is an early spring blooming bulb closely related to chionodoxa and scilla. Puschkinia grows to 5″, has star shaped white flowers with a deep blue midvein, and shiny green strappy foliage. Takes time to mature and naturalizes slowly.
Our Experience: Puschkinia grows sporadically in several garden borders on great hill. It seems to prefer light shade and soil that remains moist in the spring. Existing clumps have persisted for many years, and are naturalizing very slowly. While they are related to other common, early blooming bulbs, their habit and flowers set them apart. A favorite of our garden crew. Plant 4″ deep and 4″ apart.