How the bulb year works

Fall, planting

Spring bloomers go in once the soil cools to about 55°F, roughly six weeks before the ground freezes. They root in fall, then need 12 to 16 weeks of cold to set their flowers.

Spring, bloom

Crocus open first, then daffodils and hyacinths, then tulips. Mixing early, mid and late varieties stretches the show from a couple of weeks to two months.

Late spring, recharge

After the petals drop, the leaves spend about six weeks refilling the bulb. Snap off the spent flower heads but leave every leaf, uncut and unbraided, until it yellows. Tidying green foliage is the usual reason bulbs skip a year.

Summer, rest or second act

Spring bulbs sit dormant and want dry soil. This is when frost-tender summer bulbs such as dahlias take over the bed.

First frost, lifting

In zones colder than 8, tender tubers are dug up, dried and stored indoors for winter. Hardy bulbs stay put for years.

A close pile of tulip bulbs with papery brown skins and dried roots — Tulip bulbs, skins and roots on

Why people get hooked

A bulb is close to a guaranteed flower. The bloom is already formed inside when you buy it, so first-year success depends far more on planting it right than on skill. The work is front-loaded into one mild fall afternoon and the payoff arrives when the rest of the garden is still brown. Many bulbs also multiply underground: a clump of daffodils planted this year can be a wide drift in five, and one dahlia tuber becomes a handful to replant or give away.

Plant your first bulbs

Tulip bulbs lying on soil in a wooden trough beside a wooden-handled trowel — Bulbs set out before planting

Free lookups for step one and step four

What you can plant in your first month

A daffodil drift

Toss 25 bulbs onto a bed and plant each one where it lands, which gives the loose, natural look that straight rows never do.

A labeled bed

Mark each group with the variety and the date, so you know next summer where the bulbs are sleeping before you dig.

A caged tulip block

Fifteen tulips planted shoulder to shoulder inside wire baskets, the densest and most squirrel-proof way to grow them (Tulip growing).

Paperwhites in a vase

Bulbs set over water in a bright window root within days and send up green shoots in two weeks, with flowers from about week four (Bulb forcing).

Tulip growingThe widest range of color and form of any spring bulb, from short early singles to tall fringed and parrot types that open in May. Usually replanted each fall and grown inside wire.

Start here

Order tulip bulbs now and keep them somewhere cool and dry, then plant them 6 to 8 inches deep once nights are steadily in the 40s. They are the last spring bulbs to go in.

Iowa State Extension: how deep to plant tulips

Dahlia growingFrost-tender tubers planted in spring that flower from midsummer until the first frost, and bloom more the more you cut. They need staking, and lifting for winter in cold zones.

Start here

Look up your last spring frost date and pick three tubers in colors you like. Plant each one on its side, 4 to 6 inches deep, with a stake driven in beside it on planting day.

American Dahlia Society: fundamentals of growing dahlias

Bulb forcingCoaxing bulbs to bloom indoors in winter, in pots or in glass vases over water. Paperwhites and amaryllis need no cold spell. Hyacinths and tulips need 12 to 17 weeks in a refrigerator or cold garage first.

Start here

Set a paperwhite or amaryllis bulb in a forcing vase this week, with the water just below the base of the bulb, and put it in a cool bright window. Neither needs a cold spell first.

Penn State Extension: forcing flowering bulbs

Open a card for the first thing to do. Its button adds that direction's lines to the bulb crate.

Chilling times, bulb by bulb

Penn State Extension: forcing bulbs indoors Free chilling-time table for every common bulb

How to pick good bulbs

Crates of loose flower bulbs sorted by variety under picture labels at a market stall — Loose bulbs sorted by variety

Size is the grade

Bulbs are sold by circumference in centimeters, and a bigger bulb means more or larger flowers. Top-size tulips are 12 cm and up, and bargain bags are usually smaller.

Firm and heavy

A good bulb feels like a fresh onion. Reject soft, lightweight, moldy or sprouting ones. A loose or missing papery skin is harmless.

Buy early, plant on time

The best varieties sell out by early fall. Store bulbs in a paper or mesh bag somewhere cool and dry, never sealed in plastic.

Read the bloom time

Labels say early, mid or late season. Choosing some of each matters more for a long display than how many bulbs you buy.

Check the zone range

Most tulips and hyacinths need a cold winter. In zone 8 and warmer, pick varieties sold for warm climates or chill the bulbs for 10 to 12 weeks before planting.

What trips beginners up

Expect a wait

Nothing shows for four to six months after fall planting. That silence is normal and the bulbs are rooting.

Expect tulips to fade

Big hybrid tulips are at their best in year one. Treat a strong second year as a bonus and rely on daffodils for a display that comes back.

Expect animals

Squirrels dig freshly planted tulips and crocus, and deer eat the buds. Daffodils, alliums and snowdrops are left alone.

Don't plant shallow

Shallow bulbs flop, split into small non-flowering bulbs and get dug up. When unsure, go deeper.

Don't plant in wet ground

Bulbs rot in soil that stays soggy. If a spot holds puddles, use a raised bed or a pot.

Don't dot them around

Single bulbs spaced a foot apart look sparse. The same number in two tight groups looks like a garden.

Purple, red and yellow tulips opening in a garden bed — Tulips in their first spring

Handle with care

Skin irritation

Hyacinth bulbs and daffodil sap carry needle-like crystals that cause an itchy rash on bare hands. Wear gloves when handling many at once.

Toxic if eaten

Daffodil, tulip and hyacinth bulbs are poisonous to people, dogs and cats, and daffodil bulbs have been mistaken for onions. Store them away from the kitchen and out of reach of pets and children.

Before you dig

For a new bed, call 811 a few days ahead to have buried utility lines marked for free.

Where to learn more

Your state's cooperative extension service publishes free planting calendars written for your climate, which beat general advice on timing. Plant societies are the other shortcut: local chapters hold fall bulb and spring tuber sales where experienced growers sell divisions cheaply and answer questions in person.

Societies with free guides

A clump of yellow trumpet daffodils flowering in a lawn — Daffodils flowering in grass

The bulbs themselves are most of the cost, and they are the one place where spending more shows up directly as bigger flowers. The tools are simple and last for years: a planter that cuts a hole to the right depth, a bag of bulb fertilizer, gloves and labels. The base kit plants a first daffodil bed. Tulips, dahlias and indoor forcing each add their own bulbs and a couple of items, so add only the direction you want to try this season. Live bulbs are seasonal: spring bloomers ship in fall and dahlia tubers in late winter and spring, so a listing may be out of stock outside its window.

Fill the bulb crate

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the crate. Clicking a card selects it there, and clicking the selected card again takes that line out. The base kit starts in the crate. The tulip, dahlia and forcing lines and the drill auger stay out until you add them.

Daffodil bulbs

EssentialBulbs

The most forgiving bulb to start with. Animals leave them alone and a planting comes back and spreads for decades.

budget

Mixed Daffodils (25 Bulbs) - Assorted Colors Daffodil Narcissus Bulbs by Willard & May

4.1(653)

$25.95

Bulb Gardening

How the bulb year works

Why people get hooked

Plant your first bulbs

Three directions to take it

How to pick good bulbs

What trips beginners up

Handle with care

Where to learn more

About the kit

Fill the bulb crate