Planting season opens

The planting season for summer bulbs begins as soon as the risk of ground frost is over. Time to get going! While planting your bulbs, you can already start looking forward to when they will bloom that summer. Whatever summer bulbs you choose, you can count on plenty of flowers and plenty of colour. Most summer bulbs flower profusely until well into late summer. What’s more, each has its very own look: from sleek and elegant (Gladiolus) to wild and lush (a mix of dahlias).

Flower-picking fun

If you love picking your own flowers, you simply have to have dahlias in your garden. The more you pick, the more flowers you get! Dahlias are also known for their wide range of flower shapes: from well-mannered little pompon types to luxurious (absolutely huge) dinner plates. This makes choosing even harder! But you don’t have to limit yourself: just combine dahlias in various colours and flower shapes. This will give you variation in your cut flowers, too.

Tips

• You can also use the Calla Lily, Crocosmia, Lily (Lilium) and Gladiolus as cut flowers. If you like picking these flowers for your own bouquets, you could think about planting a whole cutting garden full of them.
• Crocosmia also provides pretty berries after flowering: wonderful in the warm colours of late summer bouquets. Why not leave a few standing for a beautiful winter silhouette?

Making a comeback

If you love flowers, you can’t do without begonias. These garden plants come in dazzling colours and continue to blossom their hearts out all summer long! Luckily, begonias have made a real comeback in recent years. This is also true of the Canna. This summer bulb may not bloom as profusely as begonias, but they are just as beautiful. Their brightly coloured flowers provide gorgeous colour accents in the sizzling summer border.

Bees and butterflies

The Pineapple Lily (Eucomis) is really one of a kind. This summer bulb produces a large flower cluster topped with its own distinctive tuft of leaves that makes it a beautiful addition to gardens with a natural look. Its flowers contain large quantities of nectar that attracts bees and butterflies. Other summer bulbs also attract butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects. It’s primarily the single-flowering varieties that attract these smaller forms of wildlife. So, be sure to plant plenty of these flowering varieties in your garden.

Colour in the border

Summer bulbs make good companions for perennials in the border as long as it has a sunny location. You could also plant summer bulbs in pots to bring a summer ambiance to your patio. And don’t forget: pots with planted summer bulbs are a convenient way to fill a bare spot in the summer or late summer border.