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Bloom Seasons and Bulbs
Grouping Bulbs by Season of Bloom
True bulbs and the other bulbous plants are distinct from other plant types, but it’s convenient to think about them as seasonal groups divided by when they produce their flowers.
The three major groups are spring, summer, autumn, but a fourth—tropical or evergreen bulbs—completes the list. While a few bulbs straddle more than one of these general groups, most fit into just one category.
Here are these four seasonal flowering classes, along with some popular examples.
Spring bulbs mostly are native to areas with hot, dry summers and cool or cold, mostly wet winters. Nearly dormant throughout summer, the spring bulbs sprout roots and buds in winter, develop foliage and flowers in spring, and then rest the remainder of the year. They include daffodil and other narcissus, crocus, some fritillary, hyacinth, iris, ornamental onion, and tulip.
Most summer bulbs originate in those areas of the world with climates of warm, rainy summers and cool, dry winters. Near-dormant in winter, summer bulbs become active in spring and bloom in midsummer. Some examples of summer-flowering bulbs are caladium, canna, dahlia, daylily, gladiolus, and lily.
Autumn bulbs are adapted to climates with hot, dry summers, moist autumns, and mild to cool, often dry winters. The autumn bulbs include hardy begonia, caladium, autumn-blooming crocus, meadow saffron, and sternbergia.
Most evergreen bulbs live in areas marked by intermittent rains and mild temperatures; more are found in tropical locales that have occasional dry periods. Evergreens and tropicals retain year-round foliage and bloom when moisture is abundant. Think of amaryllis, tuberous begonia, perennial ginger, and lily-of-the-Nile.
Bloom Season of Popular Bulbs
Many gardeners go to bulbs to create their most beautiful seasonal color displays and landscaped flower beds.
Even though the specific bloom time for any bulb varies by climate and the manner in which the bulbs were stored prior to planting, it’s easy to plan bulb gardens of great beauty.
Choose from among these common bulbs to plan bulb landscapes according to nature’s rhythm and cycles:
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- Early spring: crocus hybrids, glory-of-the-snow, reticulated iris, narcissus (early varieties), snowdrop, striped squill, tulip (early varieties and species), windflower (early varieties), and winter aconite.
- Spring: Daffodil, fritillary, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, Dutch iris, lily-of-the-valley, narcissus (late varieties), scilla (early varieties), spring snowflake, squill, starflower, tulip (Darwin and Mendel hybrids), and Balkan windflower (Anemone blanda).
- Late spring: English bluebell, bearded iris, foxtail lily, scilla (late varieties), Spanish bluebell, star-of-Bethlehem, and tulip (parrot).
- Summer: Amaryllis, anemone, tuberous begonia, caladium, canna, dahlia, daylily, elephant’s-ear, gladiolus, summer hyacinth, lily, torch lily, lycoris, montbretia, ranunculus, tuberose, and wood sorrel.
- Autumn and Early Winter: Hardy begonia, caladium, autumn crocus, cyclamen, meadow saffron, and winter daffodil.
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