Spring Bulb – Summer Flower
I love a natural looking garden full of colour, and spring bulbs, tubers and roots deliver on both in spades. For any green green thumbs we should mention that Spring Bulbs are planted in spring and flower in the summer and fall. Spring flowering plants like Tulips, Hyacinth and daffodils are Fall bulbs.
The excitement of seeing the initial shoots in the summer months never wanes and each year I like to incorporate a new stunner to a sunny corner of my garden. Best of all most plants require very little attention to thrive.
One of the most prolific bloomers are the perpetual favourites of brides everywhere; Peonies. These stunning, almost fluffy, petaled pretties will fill your garden with stunning colour and fragrance throughout the summer months. To ensure a continuous blossom season plant a variety of cultivars with different bloom times. I highly recommend the waffle style peony ring with multiple openings to hold each stem. Ensure to place the ring early so the heads grow up through the holes as they will be to large to slide through later on. As the flowers become heavy headed they will droop to the ground if not supported and thus an easy target for the pests that are drawn to the sweet smell. Cut just one and place in a small bowl of water for an instant centre piece.
Another famous plant is the Dahlia. The name draws dark connections to the notorious murder and subsequent film; the Black Dahlia. This plant is nowhere near the dark impression cast in the media with gorgeous colour variety that will keep your cut flower vase full from spring to fall.
My final must have spring bulbs are Gladiolus. Funny, but these plants remind me of a movie as well. In Beetlejuice Winona Ryder’s character is allergic to them. Which is funny as I don’t find them to have much scent at all. What they do have is height, drama and COLOUR! There is a glad in every possible shade and I highly recommend. Though they can prove a bit more work, needing to be dug up if your garden will be exposed to a deep freeze. One option is to plant them in containers that can be moved into a garage during the winter months.
What is your favourite spring bulb?