Growing bulbs, corms and tubers

From the first snowdrop in spring to the last fall-flowering crocus, bulbs, corms, and tubers provide colour throughout the year, and most need little attention. Read on to learn more.

The snowdrop (Galanthus) is one of the first flowers to make its appearance each year, opening its delicate white bell-shaped flowers in mid to late winter. Soon afterward comes the blue glory-of-the-snow, followed by the early crocuses, cyclamens, and scillas.

Another forerunner of spring is the small winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis), with its golden flowers rising above a collar of green leaves. All these plants associate well with one another, planted in groups beneath deciduous trees or in rock gardens.

March, April, and May are the months when most spring-flowering bulbs appear. First come the Dutch crocuses, their green-tipped shoots pushing through earth and grass to reveal their goblet-shaped blooms of yellow, lavender, white, mauve, or violet. Some are striped or heavily marked with a contrasting hue, and in bright sunshine they all open wide, revealing deep golden or orange anthers.

The large narcissus group flowers from early to mid spring. Many catalogues list the trumpet-shaped types under their common name of daffodil and those with short-cupped flowers under narcissus; but botanically they all belong to the genus Narcissus. Many of them are sweetly scented.

Other heralds of spring are the hyacinths and muscari, the early tulips, and the spring snowflakes (Leucojum vernum), with flowers like rounded snowdrops, their white petals tipped with pale green.

Among other bulbs that will flower in late spring, less familiar but decidedly worthwhile are the handsome fritillarias, many of the anemones, the hardy, bright blue Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica), which naturalize well, the summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum), delicate camassias, ranunculus, and several kinds of ornamental onion (Allium).

Ixias and sparaxis brighten warm, sunny borders, followed by the species of gladioli, with their delicate flower spikes.High summer brings the stately gladiolus hybrids and the shade-tolerant tuberous begonias, as well as dahlias and lilies. These can be grown as accents or in massed displays; tuberous begonias are particularly attractive in containers.

Gladioli for cutting can be planted in rows in the vegetable garden.Modern cannas have more to offer than just brilliant flowers, many have leaves striped in bright yellow or red that add a tropical look to the border. Their spikes of bloom, often in vivid shades, are long-lasting.

Equally showy are the many varieties of Crocosmia (montbretia), which come in a wide range of colours. They bloom from midsummer onward and modern varieties have branched spikes that increase the display.

"Autumn crocuses" (Colchicum) and fall-flowering crocuses (Crocus) follow the late gladioli in early fall. Like the spring-flowering crocuses, these are best grown in bold groups beneath deciduous trees, in pockets in a rock garden, or, in the case of colchicums, naturalized among low-growing ground covers, where they make an effective splash of colour and can be left undisturbed for many years. In mild areas, fall also brings Amaryllis belladonna, with its massive pink or white trumpet-shaped flowers.

Then there are the hardy cyclamens, with their crimson, pink, or white flowers and handsome foliage, and the low sternbergias, whose bright yellow crocus-shaped flowers appear from early to late fall.

In winter, hyacinths, crocuses, tulips, and daffodils, all potted three months or so beforehand for indoor flowering, can brighten dark days.

There are also exotic "house plant" bulbs, some of which have been specially treated to produce earlier indoor bloom — the amaryllis is a notable example.