The Freshman Gardener
Bulbs 101:
What they are and where to start
Bulb Basics
Bulbs, tubers, rhizomes, and corms. What does all that mean? Basically they’re the parts of some plants/flowers that store energy and make the plant grow. This section is about bulbs.
Bulbs aren’t seeds but produce a flower as the end result similar to a seed. We plant them in the fall, they sit in the cold earth all winter, and in the spring they grow beautiful flowers. They are some of the simplest flowers to grow and now (fall) is the time to do it.
One of my favorite things about planting bulbs is that a lot of them come back year after year. They are colorful and fragrant, and are very simple to plant. It is important to know your growing zone to make sure the bulbs you purchase will work in your climate. See this post HERE if you need some help.
We’re going to go over some of the simplest flowers that grow from bulbs so you can get your fall bulb shopping done and be ready to plant.
All the pictures on this post are from Tulip World. They have some amazing bulbs and so many varieties to choose from. 10/10 recommend.
Daffodils
One of my favorite flowers as a little girl was the daffodil. I think it’s because they are one of the first flowers to come up in the spring. They tend to poke through the earth right when think you can’t take it being cold and dark any longer. It’s like they’re telling you to hang in there because spring is coming. Daffodils come back year after year so you only have to plant them once. Plus they multiply on their own so you’re basically getting free flowers! There are SO many different varieties of daffodils. The basic ones are yellow but they also have oranges, whites, peaches, and creams. There are multicolor ones and fluffy ones and spiky ones….it’s hard to pick just a few.
Tulips
If you ever have the chance to go to the Tulip Festival in the Skagit Valley, WA, DO IT! We went last year and it was breathtaking. Tulips come in thousands of varieties and colors so good luck picking just a few options. They tend to bloom later in the spring (depending on the variety) but need to be planted in the fall. They like sun so choose a spot where they get a lot of that. The downsides to tulips is that the deer love to eat them and some varieties don’t come back year after year. You can look for ones that say “perennial” when purchasing and they will have a better chance of reemerging each year.
Hyacinths
There are different kinds of Hyacinths, one is a bigger and the other is tiny. The smaller ones look like little teensy grapes (they’re called grape hyacinths) and are a beautiful purplish blue color. The larger ones have more open flowers and are really fragrant. The deer and bunnies tend to leave them alone. They smaller grape hyacinths multiply and spread so keep that in mind when deciding where to plant them. I hurriedly planted a bunch last fall and they have definitely lived up to that.
Crocus
Crocus’s are like daffodils in that they bloom very early in the spring, sometimes when there is still snow on the ground. They look really nice when planted in bunches together. Squirrels and chipmunks love to eat them and have even been known to dug them up and rebury them other places. That’s a fun surprise if you’re into that. They comes in a variety of colors but mostly purple, white, pink and yellow.
If any of these look appealing, now is the time to buy them. The big box stores like Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes and even Costco tend to all carry bulbs right now. If you’re feeling extra bougie, there are a ton of online shops that sell hundreds of varieties and will ship them right to you. I’ll link some of my favorites below.
When looking at ones to buy, make sure you look at the growing zone. You want your zone to fall in what’s listed on that variety. Next, we’ll get into how to plant them. Happy Shopping!
Bulb Farms
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