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I know for some of us, winter doesn’t show up too early, like here in Charleston, SC.   Living near the Southern Atlantic coast usually means we have mild temperatures during “wintertime”, with few days of freezing temperatures.   But for many, including our kids in the Midwest, winter can show up anytime from November until April, and sometimes be brutal!  I know for me, having flowers growing in my garden anytime makes me happy, and being able to look forward to bloom time after a long, cold winter can be joyous!  Our Baby Girl called me last night asking for tips to get her bulbs into her flower bed, so I thought I’d share with you what’s helped me best.

I wasn’t born with a “green thumb”, but I worked at it through the years, and generally have been happy with the results.  Almost.  The year the Japanese Beetles ate up our grape arbor which just happened to be loaded with delicious grapes that I was planning on making TONS of grape jelly with was purely a battle with me.  We set up beetle traps trying to control the ravage of those beetles, but it seemed the traps just brought all of their friends to the grape-eating fest.  I learned the hard way that year to hand-pick off the beetles from the leaves and drop them into a bucket of soapy water…it worked better than the traps, and I tried not to be too squeamish about touching beetles!  Some grapes were spared, and the delicious aroma of grape jelly making filled the house, enough to make a few jars to share and plenty to feed our jelly loving family!

Trust me, bulb-planting shouldn’t make you squeamish, unless you find an earthworm or two, which is a GREAT thing, because they are SO beneficial for your garden.  Let the earthworms be, and you’ll (and they’ll) be better for it.  The first thing to think about is what kind of bulb flowers do you want to grow?  There are many choices, so take some time to check it out on-line, or hey, even a garden book for your home area or garden magazine will have great choices for you to consider.  I’m a visual gardener, so I choose color first, then I check to see how tall the plants will grow.  This is important because you want to plant the bulbs with the shortest growth height in the front of your flower bed, and the taller growth height behind them.  Think of stairs, and stair-step your growth height of your bulbs.  When you’re planting, the bulbs all look similar, with a “flat” end that sits on the soil, and the “growth” end that usually looks like a plant is forming.  If you can’t tell which end is which, just plant the bulb on it’s side, and there’s a good chance the flower will still find it’s way to the top!

Prepare your planting bed, if you have one.  You can literally just dig a hole about 8” deep, sift out any rocks with your hands, add some compost, garden soil (this is sold in a bag if you don’t have any), or even left over potting soil mix to the dirt in the hole you just dug, place your bulb, and cover with the soil you dug out.  I like to put several bulbs into the hole I dug so they will grow as “clumps” which really showcase the flower’s color and look lovely in your yard…just make sure the bulbs are planted next to each other and not on top of each other.  Easy peasy.  The Dutch have a saying “bulbs don’t like wet feet”, so avoid planting your bulbs anywhere water collects, like at the bottom of your gutter drain spout.  They love sun, so don’t be afraid to plant spring blooming bulbs around the base of trees that lose their leaves in the winter to brighten up your landscape.

Your bulb package will have specific information about depth, planting instructions, height, bloom time, and color of flower, so be sure to keep that info in a ziplock bag after planting so you can refer to it at bloom time, and re-purchase the same bulbs for the next season if you love them!  The greatest thing is, many bulbs “naturalize” meaning they will sprout new bulbs from the old ones, continuously filling your flower bed with color!  They are “perennials”, meaning that usually, they return each year without any more work from you…YAY! !  Bulbs are also very easily planted into a container that you will let winter outside, so don’t be afraid to add them to a pot or two that you have outside for your very own pot bouquet!!

Check out this link at  http://www.americanmeadows.com for more GREAT tips and beautiful bulbs and gardening info for your area.  I LOVE that they can show you seeds and plants that grow in your specific area when you put your zip code in!  Makes it easy for everyone to be a gardener!  Enjoy the wonderful gardening roller coaster ride!