Enhance Your Garden By Planting Bulbs

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Enhance your garden or landscape with a variety of bulbs and transform your outdoor living area. Bulbs are very unique plants. Most trees, shrubs, and flowers, begin their bloom time in spring. They continue to blossom throughout the summer and into the chill of the autumn season. Bulbs add such a new dimension into a garden or landscape. As many plants are dormant throughout the winter months, bulbs are busy growing and maturing underground. In spring, excitement begins as you see the first few buds on a tree. Imagine looking out your window and seeing a variety of bulbs emerging through the ground with many vibrant colors to greet you. This landscape article will offer you a few suggestions to enhance and spice up your gardens by planting bulbs.

Lets learn a few basics on the different types of bulbs. A true bulb such as a Tulip, has customized leaves that are attached to a flat base. This surrounds the bud of the flowers. Most true bulbs have a papery outer layer or flesh, like scales. Tubers are tailored stems, but with no base plate. The shoots and roots begin to sprout from the buds, and these are called eyes. This can be seen on a potato. Rhizomes are underground root stems. The new stems are sprouting throughout the development of the plant. Instead of sprouting vertically, the Rhizome will spread out horizontally. Corms are different from bulbs as when they are opened, the have a solid and stiff stem.

Bulbs are usually planted in early spring or fall. Many different bulbs will enhance the appearance of your garden. One of the most popular is planting bulbs in a flower garden. They also can be planted in rock gardens, and create a vibrant border in an evergreen or ornamental garden. You can also produce a pulsating look by planting a specific garden with just bulbs. The key to this type of garden is planning out the different specimens so they will bloom throughout the growing season. This can be a showcase garden for your family and friends to enjoy. Bulbs are categorized in seasons. There are late winter, early spring, summer and fall. Each bulb is classified as an early, mid or late bloomer.

Most bulbs prefer full sun, but can take some a little shade. They will grow in most any type of soil, but shouldn't be planted in an overly moist environment. If the soil is too soggy, the bulbs will root. Mass planting is very popular in bulb gardens. One tip for you, you may have to plant a volume of bulbs to have a full garden. Many of the public gardens displaying a mass of bulb flowers, take some special care to produce the beauty that you see during the different seasons.

Bulbs are put into three different categories, hardy, semi-hardy, and tender. The tender bulbs are hardy only in warmer climates. In most other locations, tender bulbs are considered an annual. They can be left in the ground, or dug up before the first frost or ground freezes. Many people know the popularity of the Crocus, Daffodil, Tulip, Amaryllis, Hyacinth, Iris, and Lily. Below are some flowering bulbs that you can think about to enhance that special garden or landscape.

Hardy Bulbs

• Dog-Tooth Lily
• Lily-of-The-Valley, should be dug up in color climates.
• Stripped Squill
• Windflower
• Winter Acontie

Semi-Hardy Bulbs

• Corn Lily
• Persian Buttercup
• Spring Star Flower
• Star Of Bethlehem
• Wood Sorrel

Tender Bulbs

• Caladium
• Dahlia
• Lily-of-the-Nile
• Peacock Orchid
• Tuberous Begonia

Bulbs have been grown for years in formal and other garden settings. One of the most popular places to purchase bulbs is at Dutch Gardens.