Choose the Colors that You Love

Gardeners tend to have favorite colors. This means that their gardens typically have many flowers in a similar color scheme. If you love reds, go with red tulips. If you prefer pinks, you will find that there are many great pink tulips as well. Look at what you already have growing and ask yourself what colors will work best. Remember, tulips are available in almost any color under the sun. You can use many colors, many varieties or just a single color. It really is up to you and what you think looks the most beautiful. If you choose tulips that you love, odds are they will work well with the other plants you have previously selected.

Cluster or Group Tulips While Planting

Tulips are stunning flowers on their own, but are especially beautiful when paired in groups. As you plant tulips try to avoid straight rows as this can lead to a very structured unnatural look. Instead, plant your tulips in clusters of 3 or more. By clustering the tulips, you will get a softer, more dramatic final look.
Visualize the Final Look

Since tulips are planted as bulbs, you can’t really good a good visual until the next spring when they bloom. As you plant, try to imagine what the final look will be come spring. Think about heights, colors and size of flowers. Remember, taller tulips should be planted in the back and shorter ones will work best near the front.

Also take the height of your other plants into consideration as you plant. By taking time to visualize the final look in your head, you will better be able to plan your bulb placement.

Tulips make a great complement to any spring garden. If you want your flowerbeds to be the talk of the neighborhood next spring, prepare now by planting some tulip bulbs today.

Bulb Can Mean Many Different Things

When people say bulbs, they often mean many different things. Bulbs can come in many different shapes, sizes and varieties. Often people refer to the rhizomes of the iris plant, the tubers of dahlias, the corms of the gladiolus and traditional bulbs like daffodils and tulips all as bulbs. Read packages carefully so that you really know what you are purchasing. Tubers, rhizomes, corms and bulbs all have different planting, splitting and care requirements, so you need to know what you are purchasing.

When to Plant

Most spring bulbs are planted in the fall. However, some bulbs aren’t able to withstand cold winter temperatures. These tender bulbs need to weather the winter inside. If you plan on planting begonias, dahlias, gladiolus, freesia or other tender bulbs, be aware that in climates where the ground will freeze, you will not be planting until after the ground thaws in the spring. Other bulbs should be planted in the fall before the ground freezes so that they will be ready to grow come spring.

Level of Care

Also pay attention to the level of care required for each bulb you are selecting. Some bulbs are very easy to grow and require little more than plopping them in the ground and splitting them every few years. Others require much more care including removing and storing for winter and other considerations. Before you buy, make sure you know how much time you are willing to spend maintaining your garden and how much of a commitment each bulb is.

What Do I Like?

This is probably the most important consideration when choosing bulbs for your garden. You need to think about what you like and would like to grow. There are so many bulb options available, that you should have no shortage of possibilities. Remember, as you look at bulbs, choose ones that are firm, covered in their natural papery covering and not moldy, rotted or diseased. Choosing healthy bulbs is important if you want to achieve beautiful results in your garden.

Bulbs can make a great addition to any garden. If you haven’t planted bulbs before, take a little time to explore your options, as you really will have an endless supply of available choices.

If you would like to start a bulb trading group, you simply need to know a few gardeners. You probably already have several friends that would love to participate with you. Talk with friends and see who is interested. Remember, the more people you get, the more variety you will have. Tell your friends to ask around as well.

Once you have several interested traders, set a date. Try to choose an easy to attend time that will work well for most schedules. Print up a few fliers and pass them around. You may also want to consider taking out some classified ads or printing an event notice in the local newspaper. Many newspapers will run community events in their column at no charge and this can be a great way to get the word out. You can also post information for your swap on any gardening forums that you regularly frequent.

On the day of the event, a little organization will make things run a lot more smoothly. There are two approaches that your trade can take. You can either allow swaps to occur between two people directly (one daffodil bulb for one tulip) or you can create a group trade which will allow several people to trade amongst themselves. To do a group trade, simply assign numbers to each person bringing an item to trade. Once numbers have been assigned, place available bulbs on a table and randomly select people to choose one of the offerings. Whatever plan you choose, make sure that everyone involved understands what is going to happen to avoid frustration and anger.

A bulb trade is a great opportunity to mingle with other bulb lovers and to get a few new plants to grow in your yard. Since you probably have more bulbs than you can use, you might as well take this fun opportunity to share.