It is not too early to start planning your bulb planting for spring flowers. If you live in the north region, your planting time should be between September and October. If you live further south, you can wait until the end of October or November to plant bulbs. Hopefully, you already have the bulbs as most companies require at least a month for delivery. If you have them now and it is too early to plant, just be sure to keep them dry and in a cool place. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

If you buy bulbs from a local gardening place, there are some things to look for when selecting them. Make sure that bulbs are firm but not dried out and free of mold, spots and anything that resembles fungus. Another thing to remember is that the bigger the bulb, the bigger the flower will be and a double bulb normally means that you will get two plants.

The companies that sell bulbs usually offer good information and advice about planting, storing, nurturing and propagating bulbs. However, the planting depth for your area really depends on where you live. For example, if the ground where you live does not freeze to any significant depth or for extended periods of time, you can plant bulbs about an inch shallower than the depth suggested by companies. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

There are a few things that are a must before planting bulbs and at the top of the list is the soil. Unless you have good soil, your bulbs or other plants will not do well. Rich soil is the key to healthy plants and beautiful flowers. So be sure to prepare the soil by following the directions given with your purchase. Also be sure to note the best location to plant the bulbs. Some bulbs should be planted where there is full sun while others require a shady area or part sun.

Next decide how you want your garden to look when the bulbs are in full bloom. Spacing them is the key and you can follow recommendations given by the company where you bought them from or you can plant them closer together for a very beautiful and dramatic look. If in doubt, buy bulbs from a reputable company like Breck’s that has been bringing us quality bulbs from Holland since 1818. You will get all the advice you need from this company as well as top quality bulbs. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Flower Gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.