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It's Autumn Planting Time

© Carol Wallace

If you, like me, are frustrated with a gardening season that ended too soon, one of the best bulbs you can plant is the autumn crocus. Amazing little fellows - they look just like spring crocus but they bloom in fall. That's right - plant them now and you'll still get flowers this season. Another fall blooming bulb is the colchicum, which are also fall bloomers.

Daffodils
If you have deer problems, then daffodils should be the mainstays of your spring garden. The bulbs are poisonous and so are rarely bothered by critters of any kind. Even if you don't like yellow you can find daffodils that will work for you. Many varieties are pure white, while others have a pink or apricot cup and white petals. A few have scarlet cups - very miniature cups usually. Some even have a hint of green. Look at the choices offered at Colorblends to get your imagination going.

Hyacinths
Most critters also pass up the hyacinths. These come in almost every color of the rainbow except black, and are highly fragrant. Some people dislike their rather full, pampered look, but after a couple of years in the ground most hyacinths revert to their more natural, wild look which has fewer and more relaxed looking flowers.

Muscari
Grape hyacinths - any of the many varieties of muscari - are also good bets. The most familiar type, Muscari armeniacum is about 6 inches tall with deep blue flowers that resemble clusters of grapes. The best part about these is that they tend to be very inexpensive so that you can literally carpet the ground with them as a bottom note for a symphony of color waving overhead.

Muscari also come in white, several shades of blue including bicolors, and even a yellow variety! And best of all, they naturalize - which means that not only will the bulbs underground multiply but the flowers go to seed and the seed scatters throughout the garden so that you will soon see them popping up in places you never planted.

Scilla
Scilla also naturalizes well and is also small and inexpensive - and beautiful. My favorite is Scilla siberica (Siberian Squill) which is a gorgeous shade of sky blue. Imagine a carpet of those and deep blue muscari underscoring a planting of orange hyacinths and tulips, or yellow daffodils. Does that sound too daring? Check the photos of The Bulb Lady's Garden to see how great it looks. Maybe you'll see other color and planting ideas that you'll like.