The strikingly colourful flowers of summer bulbs add a splash of colour and energy to your garden in summer. Whether you go for brightly coloured dahlias, elegant lilies or cheerful begonias: each of these flowers will give you a generous helping of summer bliss.

Endless enjoyment

Once spring bloomers have finished flowering, summer bulbs lend your garden a new look. Thanks to their long flowering period, you can enjoy the flowers for weeks or even months. Summer-flowering bulbs often attract pollinating insects as well, and thus contribute to biodiversity in your garden. Remove wilted flowers to extend the flowering period. Some summer bulbs, such as gladioli and dahlias, can be dug up after flowering and stored frost-free. You can then plant them again the following spring.

Favourite summer bulbs

There are plenty of types of summer bulbs to choose from. The best known ones are gladioli, dahlias, lilies and begonias, but also check out other unusual bulbous plants such as calla (Zantedeschia), pineapple lilies (Eucomis), freesias (Freesia) or blazing star (Liatris). Choose your favourite bulbs and plant them on a lovely spring day in a sunny border, flowerbed or spacious planter. Check the packaging for the ideal location, since some varieties will also thrive in partial shade.

Make sure the soil is well-drained and improve the soil with compost to encourage growth. Plant the bulbs at the right depth as indicated on the packaging.