Mixing Bulbs with Other Flowers
Mixed Planting Design Options
There are a few rules to follow to have good results when you mix bulbs with other flowers such as annuals and perennials, or even bulbs with other flowering plants or shrubs.
Multiple flower-and-bulb plantings are most attractive when they are planted in multiple geometric patterns.
Even gardens that appear randomly arranged or natural usually are based on sound design elements and patterns.
Bulb species also can be mixed and grouped, either with other bulbs such as muscari, or with annual or perennial flowers such as forget-me-not.
Texture based on height as well as color is another benefit of mixed plantings. It brings repeating high-low patterns that adds light and shadows to the plantings.
For best results when interspersing two or more species, choose colors that are pleasing together such as white and blue, or orange and yellow, and plants with growth habits that complement one another.
When making mixed plantings, choose either varieties with similar blooming times or those that bloom in sequence.
More About Flower Successions
There’s lots more to know about layered and companion plantings of flowers and bulbs. Visit these pages to explore how to plant flower and bulb successions, grow flowers and bulbs in the same plot, and view step-by-step demonstrations of how to create full-season beds and borders.
Scope and Scale
Scope and Scale in Mixed Plantings
Scope and scale are flip sides of the same garden design coin.
Scope roughly translates to how extensive a planting will be and the effort it requires. Scale measures the size and extent of the bulbs and other flowers that will fit within that project’s boundaries.
If you have a busy schedule and limited leisure time, plan for a mixed garden that fits your lifestyle. A few containers of colorful bulbs to feature on the steps of your home’s entry may be enough.
Have a bit more time? A trim line of crocus might line your entry walk, or even a single island bed of bulbs and other flowers in the middle of your front lawn.
If you have even more time to spend in the garden, larger bulb plantings might be in order.
Fortunately, most bulbs require serious attention just twice per season: At planting, and when lifting them after bloom. Factor their needs into your schedule.
The grand bulb plantings we admire in a public garden probably took a staff of several gardeners a week or more to install, and a similar amount of time to remove and store after their bloom is finished.
It’s a day’s effort in fall to plant a few hundred tulips and daffodils, and maybe two more days to lift and prepare them for storage in late spring.
So, when you think of scope, plan as large a bulb garden as your time and interest allows.
Think of scale, on the other hand, as more about receiving the most enjoyment and pride possible out of the area you choose to plant.
As seen above, even a small-scope mixed bulb-and-flower planting properly done is beautiful and perfect for its location.
Mixed Plantings of Flowering Plants
Mixed plantings of flowers—with or without bulbs—produces lovely results and may be structured either as formal or casual plantings. Either allows you to vary color, texture, fragrance, and blooming times in your landscape.
Formal plantings are arranged symmetrically. Heights are established carefully with tall plants—perhaps an evergreen shrub—in the back of the border or the center of the bed. If the background is a wall or fence, it may have vines or trailing flowers to add height to the display.
The midsize plants are placed next, including many flowering perennials. In the foreground are smaller plants such as bulbs and annuals. Ground covers and trailing plants fill the space at the bed’s edge.
In casual, mixed-planting styles, more attention and weight are placed on overall ambiance, with less on height and symmetry.
The result are bold, sometimes quirky, but always colorful gardens that have many points of interest to attract attention or enjoy.
Casual mixed plantings are a great way to showcase your artistic expression, personality, and taste.