Spring-blooming bulbs brighten winter-weary landscapes

By Kathy Hatfield
Gardening Columnist

Back to Gardening Articles List

Shorter days and cooler nights hint at the coming autumn. It will soon be time to plant those flower gems that get us through the first weeks of early spring, when many of us have spring fever.

The ubiquitous crocus, tulips and daffodils are a welcome sight after winter doldrums, but lesser known minor bulbs play an equally important role in adding color to the early spring garden. These early flowers provide color in late winter to early spring, some even blooming when there is still snow on the ground!

Though smaller than more familiar bulbs, most of these flowers will naturalize, providing eye-catching, ground-level color. The minor bulbs are generally less expensive than larger bulbs and do not have to be lifted and divided. Their foliage does not go through the prolonged death march of their hybrid cousins.

Here are a few tips to keep your bulbs vigorous and blooming year after year:

• Leave the foliage on the plants while it is still green or for at least six weeks after flowering. This allows the plant to put energy back into the bulb.

• While larger tulip flowers should be deadheaded to channel their energy into producing bigger bulbs and not seeds, the minor bulbs can be allowed to set seed, so they can spread in your garden.
• To control rodents, add human hair, dried bloodmeal or mothballs to the area being planted. Don't leave pieces of bulb lying around to attract rodents. If you are a cat lover, employ cats!
• Try planting bulbs in alternative lawns, those with buffalo grass or blue grama to add early spring color when the grass is still brown.
• Minor spring bulbs are attractive when interplanted with evergreen perennials such as hens and chicks, stonecress or some veronicas and penstemons.
• Check with your local nursery about the specific requirements for bulb types.

As early as late January, snowdrops or milkflowers Galanthus nivalis) begin to bloom. The common name aptly describes these fragrant white, dangling flowers. Among the first portents of spring, they bloom even when covered with snow.

A great companion for snowdrops is winter aconite (Eranthus hyemalis), with bright yellow flowers held above a whorl of rich green leaves. Both of these are beautiful in clusters of a dozen or so, and will readily reseed and spread where they are content.

One of the earliest and tiniest of the irises, snow iris (Iris reticulata), does quite well in Colorado. It is a long-lived spreader with blue, purple or white flowers.

Another species, yellow snow iris (Iris danfordiae) has fragrant yellow flowers. Irises are quickly followed by snow crocus (Crocus chrysanthus), a longer-lived and earlier crocus than the Dutch hybrids. Their narrow, grassy foliage sets off the gold, yellow, lavender, purple, white or light blue flowers that bloom in February to March. It is not necessary to dig and divide these, as they will naturalize in your lawn or flower garden. Anyone bothered by rodents will appreciate the snow iris and snow crocus; rodents dislike them.

In slightly shady areas, the grassy foliage and delicate star-shaped flowers of glory of the snow (Chionodoxa spp.) grow well along with Siberian squill (Scilla siberica), whose flowers are as bright and blue as a Colorado sky.

In sunny areas, the ferny foliage and blue, pink or white daisy-like flowers of Grecian windflower (Anemone blanda) naturalize to make a colorful groundcover.

A great spreader is grape hyacinth (Muscari spp.). Its grassy foliage is abundant into autumn and sometimes evergreen in winter and good for filling in spots in lawns. The flowers are often fragrant and usually blue, purple or white. Some newer selections include bicolor blue forms and one with feathery plumes of reddish-violet.

My favorites of the early spring beauties are the species, or wildflower, tulips. There are many types of species tulips, each with its unique and appealing qualities. Two little charmers that are much smaller than their hybridized cousins, yet provide equally welcome splashes of color in early spring, are Tulipa tarda and Tulipa bakeri 'Lilac Wonder'. Tulipa tarda has a star-shaped, bright yellow flower, with lighter yellow petal tips. 'Lilac Wonder' is a soft mauve-pink with a yellow center. Both naturalize readily, spreading like a groundcover, so they don't need to be lifted and divided.

Planting a few of these undemanding bulbs this fall will provide a colorful yard or garden in late winter and early spring for many years to come.