With the arrival of spring, many gardening enthusiasts face a crucial doubt: how to best prepare their garden for the summer season and ensure a space rich in colors and scents? The solution lies in summer bulbs, which can transform even the simplest green spaces into a true floral paradise. Just choose carefully and plant at the right time to enjoy a spectacular bloom. But what are the best varieties to consider and what secrets lie behind their cultivation? Discover everything you need to know to get the most out of your summer planting.
The essentials in a few points
- 🌷 Planting and care of summer bulbs such as gladiolus, dahlias, and crocosmias, ideal for a colorful garden.
- 🌱 Climate management: Wait for the end of spring frosts 🌡️ to avoid damage to the bulbs.
- 🪴 Perennial associations: Combine bulbs with grasses and other perennials for a dynamic visual effect.
- ❄️ Winter protection: Dig up and store the rhizomes of delicate plants, such as dahlias and cannas, in a sheltered place.
- 🌺 Selection of exotic varieties: Incorporate Eucomis and Agapanthes for an original and sophisticated touch.
Planning for summer bulb planting
With the arrival of milder temperatures after winter, it is essential to prepare for summer in the garden, focusing on planting summer-blooming bulbs. These bulbs, including vibrant flowers such as gladiolus , dahlias , and crocosmias , are ideal for adding color and vitality to green spaces. It is important to note that even though some plants like cannas or dahlias are not true bulbs from a botanical perspective, but rather rhizomes or tubers , they are cultivated similarly to other bulbous plants. Therefore, for their beauty and practicality, they deserve a place of honor in the summer garden.
Climate management and frost risk protection
When planning the planting of these bulbs or pseudo-bulbs, it is essential to wait until the risk of spring frosts has passed. One should choose a well-draining substrate to avoid bulb rot due to excess moisture. Additionally, some plants, particularly sensitive to cold, must be overwintered . This means they should be dug up in the fall and stored in a protected location during winter, to be replanted with the arrival of spring.
How to combine bulbs for a vibrant garden
To achieve colorful and dynamic flower beds, we recommend pairing these bulbs with a wide variety of summer-blooming perennials and grasses. This mix will not only add volume and texture to the garden but will also create a lively and aesthetically pleasing space. Here are some of the best essential summer bulbs to plant in your spring garden.
Gladiolus: exuberance and vibrancy
Gladiolus are extremely exuberant plants that can offer flowers in vivid and spectacular colors. With a wide variety of species, these flowers are gathered in very straight spikes, attract attention, and bring color and vitality to a flower bed. They are also perfect for creating breathtaking bouquets . To get the best from gladiolus, make sure to plant them in full sun and in a well-draining substrate. Among the varieties, Gladiolus italicus stands out for its pink bloom and natural appearance. Equally fascinating is Acidanthera , with its elegant white flowers and black spots.
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Dahlias: colorful and long-lasting
Dahlias allow you to enjoy a long and colorful bloom. There is an incalculable number of varieties that offer flowers in different shapes and colors, which can be single or double. They are perfect in a colorful mixed border and thrive in full sun, in a rich, fresh, and well-drained substrate, preferably sheltered from strong winds. Like gladiolus, in cold climates, dahlia bulbs must be recovered and stored during winter to be replanted with spring.
Cultivation of crocosmias: warmth and easy maintenance
Crocosmias are vibrant perennials that in summer showcase flowers in warm tones, such as yellow, orange, and red. Their bloom is prolonged, often from mid-July until September-October. These plants also offer beautiful long, slender foliage of a bright green, adding a graphic and exotic touch to the garden. With a sunny exposure and well-drained soil, crocosmias prove to be quite easy to cultivate.
Agapanthes: charm of South Africa
Agapanthes are perennials native to South Africa that captivate us with blooms that are generally blue, sometimes white or purple, depending on the varieties. Some varieties, such as the Agapanthus ‘ Black Magic ’, offer very dark blue flowers, almost black. Agapanthes feature clusters of star-shaped flowers on a sturdy upright stem, and long green leaves that can be deciduous or perennial. These plants are loved in gardens for their graphic and exotic appearance.
Eucomis: the exotic aesthetic of the pineapple flower
Eucomis , also known as pineapple flower, offers a bloom with an exotic and unique appearance, with surprises in its hues: inflorescences that can be greenish, purplish, or pale yellow. These consist of erect clusters with many small star-shaped flowers. The leaves, sometimes variegated in purple or burgundy, further enrich the exotic charm of the plants. Eucomis require relatively cool soil and thrive in the sun, in rich and well-drained ground.
Elegance of the arums
Arums offer elegant horn-shaped blooms and are distinguished by lush foliage, contributing to a lush atmosphere. Among these, the most well-known is Zantedeschia aethiopica , with simple and pure white blooms. Arums thrive in fresh, moist soils, softening and enhancing your summer garden with their majestic presence.
Lilies: majesty and refinement
Lilies , except for Madonna Lily which is planted exclusively in the fall, can be planted both in spring and fall. These plants enchant us with their majestic and refined blooms, presented in a variety of colors. Equipped with upright stems and trumpet or star-shaped flowers, lilies are often highly fragrant. They prefer rich, well-drained substrates with a slight acidity.
Canna: vitality and imposing structures
The canna , although equipped with a rhizome and not a true bulb, is cultivated similarly to dahlias. The rhizome should be planted in spring and dug up in autumn to be stored in dry and covered conditions. It grows well in full sun, in soils rich in humus, fresh and well-drained, producing beautiful blooms in warm colors and vigorous vegetation.
Bletilla: the orchids of the gardens
Bletillas are garden orchids that bloom at the beginning of summer, generally in June and July. These plants, also known as Hyacinth Orchid, feature unique flowers with bilateral symmetry, possessing the characteristic charm of orchids. The Bletillas, including the species type Bletilla striata , display a pink-mauve bloom, and are appreciated for their hardiness and ease of cultivation, requiring very little maintenance.
The unique charm of Tigridia
Finally, the Tigridia pavonia , known as peacock’s eye, offers an original and colorful bloom with shades ranging from red to orange, pink to yellow and white. These flowers, carried on upright stems, present a unique triangular shape that attracts attention due to the contrasts in their bud. It is essential to protect Tigridia from the cold, by digging up the bulbs in autumn to keep them sheltered.
