Grape Hyacinth in bloom

Planting Fall Bulbs for Spring Blooms

Receive an early welcome to spring with tulips, crocus, daffodils, and more when you plant fall bulbs during the fall.

When to plant:

When the overnight temperatures start dropping, around 40°overnights or 6-8 weeks before the ground freezes. Store the fall bulbs around 60 to 65 degrees F in a dry area before being planted.

Things to consider when choosing bulbs:

Bloom Time

fall bulb planting bloom times and depths
Bloom times will be indicated on the package of the bulbs. Plant multiple varieties with different bloom times to give you the longest duration of early spring blooms or plant varieties that bloom at the same time for an array of colors!

Where to Plant

First, make sure the soil is well-draining. Bulbs don’t like wet feet or else they may rot. Add amendments like compost or top soil to ensure proper drainage. Try not to plant in low lying areas where water pools and stays wet for awhile. Add Bulb Tone from Espoma to your soil when you plant to give them proper nutrients before and after blooming.

Most bulbs need full to part sun. Check the bulb packaging to see sun requirements.

Layout

Bulbs look best in groups. Consider adding them to areas where you already have perennial plants to fill in bare spots. They will brighten that area early spring and then the foliage will be camouflaged by other herbaceous perennials and shrubs as they fill out.

It’s called “naturalizing” when you plant bulbs in sporadic groups throughout your garden to make it look like more natural, like a meadow.

Bloom Colors

You may like a certain color repeated throughout your yard or if you want to dive into color combinations you can go back to what we learned in art class and use color schemes! Analogous, complementary, monochromatic, and split complementary colors are color schemes that you can build with flowers and other plants!

List of common fall bulbs at Drummers: *other varieties and multiple colors available!*

Allium – purple pom poms atop wand-like stems.
Crocus – very early color. Some even bloom in snow!
Daffodil (Narcissus) – sunny yellows and white. These are great in groups. Great for forcing.
Grape Hyacinth (Muscari) – purple or pink.
Hyacinth – fragrance that will stop you in your tracks! White, pink, purple. Great for forcing.
Tulip – Huge variety of colors, sizes and bloom times. Have a ball! Great for forcing.
Snowdrops – small white flowers that hang like a bell.

Cornell University actually did tests with planting bulbs with other perennials to see how they looked. Click here to see the results!