Small But Mighty: Minor Bulbs Make Major Impact In Any Spring
Garden
The heavy hitters in the spring garden are tulips,
daffodils, crocus and hyacinths. There are, however, hundreds of flowers
that bloom between February and May in the
The common
thread running through these minor bulbs is that most of them originated in the
rugged climes and thin soils associated with mountain regions. For example, Muscari and Ornithogalum
originated in the mountains of
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One of the more well-known minors is the grape
hyacinth (Muscari spp.).
These dainty beauties come in colors that include pure white and delicate pink
and a range from azure blue to deep purple; one variety starts with light blue
florets and grows progressively darker as the bells closest to the stem open.
Grape hyacinths are mildly fragrant, love full sun and spread like
wildfire. Luckily, rampant as these flowers are they are also very shallow
rooted; the bulbs sit just about an inch below the soil’s surface. This allows
them to share space with lawn grass, shrubs and perennials. The foliage dies
down once the weather turns warm and blends in easily with bark mulch.
Another, not so well-known minor is Chionodoxa, commonly known as “glory of the snow.”
These tiny flowers come in shades of blue; some are bi-color blue with
white highlights, and they bloom in very early spring. The plant only
reaches 4” tall and 25 bulbs will fit nicely into a 1 foot square plot.
Similar in appearance to Chionodoxa,
but fragrant in addition is Ipheon. These bulbs
range from white to periwinkle blue and bloom in April or early May; the plants
reach 6 to 8 inches in height.
Scilla (squill) and Hyacinthoides
(Spanish bluebells) are spring beauties that are also woodland flowers. Ideally
suited for partial to deep shade, these two genera look like a very
loosely-packed hyacinth. Scilla generally hosts deep
blue pendant flowers, while Hyacinthoides come in
deep blue, pale blue, white and pink. A spectacular spring display can be had
by planting drifts of scilla and hyacinthoides
under spring-flowering trees such as dogwood, redbud or crabapple. Scilla is known to
be an aggressive ground cover plant, and reproduces by bulb divisions and
seeds; keep it contained by trimming off spent flower heads after they bloom.
Anemones
(Grecian wind flowers) are ground-hugging plants with daisy-like flowers. In
the midwest these flowers
bloom around the end of April, flowering best when the sun starts to radiate
the first glimmers of summer's warmth.
Planting
minor bulbs is actually much easier to do than working with the larger
daffodils and tulips. Most of the minor bulbs are less than one inch in size;
the planting hole, then, needs to be only deep enough to accommodate the bulb.
A good planting trowel or dibble is the only planting tool needed. Also, the
planting area can be very compact, as bulbs need only be spaced a maximum of
6" apart. Over the years, these
minor bulbs will fill in nicely. Once
planted, apply a bulb-booster fertilizer at the per-square foot rates
recommended on the package, water the plot well if rain has been scarce, and mulch
after the ground is frozen. Planting
time for these bulbs begins in late September in the Canadian provinces and
northern
Minor bulbs
offer tremendous returns for a minimal investment in time and money, and are
the pinnacle in maintenance-free gardening. Set them, forget them, and watch
the garden erupt in early spring.