BULB GARDENING. EASY GARDENING.

Photo by Sichu Mali. Planting Hyacinth bulbs.

Growing flowers and plants from bulbs is easier than growing them from seeds. I’ve found bulb gardening to be a non-fussy very low-maintenance experience with a high success rate. No wonder why I’ve become a big fan of planting bulbs.

Photo by Sichu Mali. Hyacinth in bloom.

Photo by Sichu Mali. Planting Grape Hyacinth (Muscari) bulbs.

I planted most of the bulbs last fall so that they would have all of winter to grow their roots underground and start flowering in spring. One thing you do have to watch out for is the possibility of squirrels digging out your bulbs in the fall when they get hyperactive and keep digging into the ground/flower containers all day long to hide their acorns for winter. In my own garden, squirrels kept digging out my Freesia bulbs. I had to keep checking on my Freesia bulbs every day and replant the ones that squirrels had removed from underneath the ground.

Photo by Sichu Mali. Soaking Ranunculus corms (technically, a corm is not a true bulb but it is similar) in a mixture of lukewarm water and Hydrogen Peroxide. Due to the extra oxygen molecule in it, Hydrogen Peroxide encourages healthy root growth.

I’ve seen gardening blogs and magazines recommend planting bulbs in fall but please know that if you have a warm fall and/or winter that year, your bulbs may start blooming prematurely before spring. So if you want to avoid premature blooms, you may want to wait until the weather gets consistently cool but before the first frost of the year arrives in your area.

Photo by Sichu Mali. I had planted these Ranunculus corms in early fall. Due to warm weather, they grown above the ground by late fall.

I have the following bulb plants in my garden: Allium, Begonia, Freesia, Grape Hyacinth (Muscari), Iris, Lilies, and Hyacinth. Some other flowering bulbs are as follows: Amaryllis, Anemone, Crocus, Daffodil, Gladiolus, Snowdrops, and Tulips.

Photo by Sichu Mali. Begonia.