Summer bulbs are the complement to anyone’s garden. Summer bulbs are the seasonal opposite of spring bulbs. While spring bulbs are ideally planted in the fall for spring display, summer bulbs are ideally planted in the spring for a summer display.
Most summer bulbs are planted in the spring due to their tender perennial nature. They are planted in the spring because many of them cannot survive the winter cold. Most people plant summer bulbs in the spring and then dig them back up in the fall to store them inside during the cold months.
The summer bulbs that are hardy perennials can stay in the ground and will return year after year. If you plant hardy summer bulbs, be sure to mark where you plant them so that you don’t accidentally dig them up while they are dormant.
Summer bulbs are actually mostly not bulbs. They are a combination of corms, tubers, bulbs, rhizomes and tubers. Bulb is an all-inclusive name to coverall of these different types of roots.
Some examples of summer bulbs are flag iris, freesia, anemone, begonia, gladiolus canna and hosta.
Summer bulbs will flower in the summer with spectacular results. Many summer bulbs have bright colorful flowers with rich sweet scents. This is the reason that many gardeners will go to the trouble of planting and unplanting summer bulbs year after year. The show they provide for the avid gardener is well worth the effort.
If you wish to store your summer bulbs for the winter, the best thing to do is to wait until the bulb’s foliage has died back some. This will happen in late fall. Waiting until this happens will ensure that the bulb has stored enough food to survive being stored. After the leaves have died back some, dig your summer bulb out of the ground and gently remove the dirt. Do not wash the dirt off, simply brush the dirt off as best you can. Lay the bulbs out on a piece of newspaper for a day or two. Once the bulbs have died off, place them in a box or bag covered with sawdust or peat moss and store them in a cool place.
I hope that you will take the time to plant some summer bulbs this year in your garden. You will be richly rewarded for the effort.
To get more information about summer bulbs, visit www.plantingflowerbulbs.com.