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Spring Blooming Bulbs

Top Choices for Easy to Grow, Beautiful Spring Flowers

For gardeners who've been waiting all winter to see green again, nothing is more welcome than the sight of early spring flowers. And few plants are as easy to grow as spring blooming bulbs. You plant them in the fall and wait. The hard part is being patient.

Spring blooming bulbs actually start growing almost immediately. They send down roots in the fall and can continue growing, although at a slower rate, throughout the winter. That's why it's so important to get them off to a good start. Choose a site that will get plenty of sunshine in the spring. Add a little organic matter and some bulb food or bone meal, at planting time. And make sure your keep them watered until the ground freezes.

These 6 spring bulbs are the easiest to grow and give you the biggest bang for your buck. There are plenty of choices to choose from for each bulb and planting several varieties will keep your garden in bloom all spring.

1. Crocus

There are more than 80 species of crocus, but most of us plant a mix of hybrids, without really thinking about it. The hybrids tend to be a little larger and bloom a little later. However they are still one of the earliest flowers to appear in the spring, often getting snowed on.

Crocus are a wonderful choice for naturalizing or planting in lawns. They are also incredibly easy to grow or force in containers.

Planting and Growing Crocus

2. Daffodiils

Daffodils (Narcissus) have so many wonderful qualities to recommend them. They live longer than you will, with a lot less care. Deer and rodents don't touch them. They come in luscious shades of yellow, cream and pink and many are even fragrant. There are even daffodils that don't require cold weather to set blooms.

Planting and Growin Daffodils

3. Hyacinth

Those big, puffy flower heads are made up of dozens of small, fragrant, tubular flowers. Take a look at each one individually and it's easy to see that hyacinths are in the lily family and that overwhelming perfume makes perfect sense.

Hyacinth come in colors that many other bulbs do not, so it's nice that they bloom in time to mix with daffodils, and tulips.

Planting and Growing

4. Siberian squill

It's hard to miss a naturalized drift of blue Siberian squill, (Scilla siberica), in the spring. Plant them where they'll have plenty of room to roam, because they will. Luckily the foliage is low and wispy, so you won't have to watch it fade away for weeks after the flowers disappear. Plant them in the lawn, along paths, under trees and in rock gardens and watch your yard turn into a river of blue.

Planting and Growing Scilla

5. Snowdrops

How can you not love a plant that pushes it's way up through snow covered ground. Snowdrops (Galanthus) look deceptively dainty. They can take cold winds and icy temperatures and keep on blooming. They are very long-lived and while they tend to be well-behaved clump-formers, they also spread by seed and you'll find them popping up in surprising places.

Planting and Growing Snowdrops

6. Tulips

Is there a flower that comes in more bright and cheery colors than tulips? Plan it right, and you can get 3 months worth of bloom time from them. The earliest varieties will start blooming in March. The late comers will mingle with columbines and bleeding hearts. That is, if you can protect them from the deer , squirrels and all the other animals attracted by their tasty petals.

Planting and Growing Tulips