Hidden qualities

If you want colour, pleasure, surprises and a smile on your face, flower bulbs are just the thing because they give you all of this. You might not think so when you first see them, but dry flower bulbs are packed with promises! Flower bulbs will always bloom because the flower is already hidden away in the bulb itself. The only thing they need is a spot in the soil.

Various flowering periods, colours and heights

With a bit of planning, the flower bulbs blooming in your garden will give you weeks of pleasure. Who could wish for a nicer spring? And the season can start as early as January/February with winter aconites, snowdrops, crocuses and dwarf irises. Next to flower in March/April are such bulbs as anemones, daffodils, grape hyacinths and hyacinths. And these are followed by tulips from April through June and by ornamental onions in May/June.

The time to plant

Plant spring-flowering bulbs in a sunny location from late September until the end of December. The most important rule is to plant them before the first time the soil freezes. Flower bulbs need a cold period to produce flowers in the spring.

How to plant them

To plant your flower bulbs, follow these five steps:

1. At the place where the flower bulbs will be planted, be sure to loosen the soil with a trowel to make work easier. When flower bulbs are not planted in an existing border, it might be advisable to amend the soil with some organic material such as compost. Dig a hole with a spade or bulb planter and plant the flower bulbs in it with their pointed sides facing up.
2. Make sure that the bulbs are planted at a depth three times the height of the bulb itself. (A daffodil bulb 5 centimetres tall should thus be planted at a depth of 15 centimetres.)
3. Make sure that the bulbs have enough space between them to grow. Large flower bulbs should be planted around 2-3 cm apart, and somewhat smaller ones around 1-2 cm apart.
4. Fill the hole with the previously removed soil and tamp the surface gently.
5. If the soil is dry, give the bulbs some water.