Plant in Fall, bloom in Spring

To take full advantage of what Mother Nature has to offer in your garden all year around you have to plant a few flower bulbs. They are the very first to bloom during the last dreary days of Winter and announce that Spring is coming again in your neck of the woods. With a bit of planning and selection you can easily extend the joy of having Spring flowering bulbs in your garden from a few weeks to several months. It is also easy to see how combining bulbs with perennials creates a harmonious relationship where each supplements the other without one being a dominate factor. The fresh colors and texture of the emerging foliage of perennials offers unique opportunities for contrast or complimenting colors with flowering bulbs. (This combining or contrasting of colours between different plants is called 'color echoing' and is an important way to tie plants together in the overall design). An added benefit is that the new growth of the perennials will hide the dying foliage of the bulbs once they have finished flowering! And not long after that of course most perennials themselves will bloom, thus smoothly extending the sequence of flowering plants for you to enjoy.

It is easier than you think. Not sure where to start yet? Click the other tabs above for a few ideas and suggestions. Call them 'recipes' if you want.