Gardening advice for planting bulbs and corms

Many of the most beautiful plants grow from bulbs and corms, including daffodils, tulips, and crocuses. We'll teach you all of the tricks you'll need to know to ensure that these plants are ready to flourish.

• Most bulbs will thrive in any part of the garden, provided they're protected from strong winds, given reasonably fertile soil, and are sufficiently well drained to prevent rot.
• They can be grown in beds, borders, and tubs (some kinds in rock gardens), and some of the small ones, like snowdrops, winter aconites, and crocuses, can be planted beneath shrubs and trees or ground cover.
• Bulbs that naturalize well in grass, such as crocuses, can be left undisturbed for years.
• Most bulbs do best in a sunny location, but a few (such as cyclamens, bluebells, dog's-tooth violets, snowdrops, and winter aconites) do well in shaded spots.
• Some bulbs, including the acidanthera, amaryllis, nerine, and sparaxis, are sensitive to cold weather and are best grown where they can get maximum sun and protection from strong winds, such as at the foot of a south-facing wall.

• Plant spring-flowering bulbs from early to late fall and most summer-flowering bulbs in early spring. Plant fall-flowering bulbs in late spring to late summer.
• Whatever the time of year, the planting site must be carefully prepared. Dig the ground to a depth of about 25 centimetres (10 inches). Mix mature compost (which is preferable to peat moss) into the soil, using one 10-litre (10-and-a-half-quart) bucket per square metre (three square feet), and let it settle for a few days before planting.
• Mix bone meal into the planting area at a rate of about two kilograms (four pounds) per 10 square metres (35 square feet), or add a balanced organic fertilizer at the same rate. You can also mix a small quantity in each planting hole.

• Before planting large bulbs for a formal display, place the bulbs over the area and space them at regular intervals.
• With a trowel, dig holes to the recommended depth. For large numbers of bulbs, it may be easier to dig out the entire bed to the proper depth before planting.
• Cover the bulbs with soil, and water thoroughly if the soil is dry.
• Once the whole area has been planted, set a label stake in the centre for identification, and remember to mark the edges of the planting area in some way to ensure that other plants won't later be put there by mistake.
• If certain plants, such as forget-me-nots, pansies, or polyanthus primroses are to be grown between the bulbs to provide additional colour, space the bulbs eight centimetres (three inches) farther apart. Set out the plants before planting the bulbs (or in spring) as shoots of bulbs show above ground.

• Many of the low-growing bulbs — spring, summer, or fall flowering — easily establish themselves in rock gardens and in small spaces between paving stones on terraces.
• Remove any covering of mulch from the site, and dig holes with a trowel to the depths indicated for each type of plant.
• Plant the bulbs in small groups of at least three or four. After planting, level the soil with the trowel, replace the mulch, and label the site.
• If the soil is dry, water it thoroughly after planting and again whenever there's been little rain.
• Good bulbs that provide a welcome show of colour early in the year include snowdrops (Galanthus), the winter-flowering crocuses, glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae), winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis), dwarf narcissi, and spring squill (Scilla).
• After the spring bulbs, you can plant dwarf alliums to give summer colour. These can be followed by sternbergias, colchicums, and the fall and winter crocuses.

Once you learn the tricks, it's easy to plant and care for bulbs and corms. Nurture them with care and you'll be treated to beautiful displays of colour as the seasons roll by.