Bulbs gardens are known for their bright, bold blooms, variety of colors and foliage and fragrance, but having a bulb garden of your own is not always possible. Planting a bulb container garden lets you avoid all that extra work and still enjoy the beauty of your favorite bulbs.
Bulb Container Garden Design
Bulb container gardens are also a great solution for those who do not have a yard to plant a traditional garden in. Each garden is portable and can be moved around to create an attractive display, as well as moved indoors during the winter months.
The following guide provides tips for choosing bulbs to include in your containers, how to plant the bulb container garden, design ideas, and tips for care.
Bulbs to Use
While you can use any bulb that you would plant in a traditional garden in a suitable container, there are some bulbs that do very well in containers. Daffodils and tulips are two taller plants that can be used as the centerpiece plants in a mixed bulb container garden or planted alone for a striking display.
Hyacinths and Freesias are two types of bulbs that grow about 8-10 inches in height. Both have very compact foliage and tall, lengthwise blooms that are very fragrant.Shorter bulbs that look great around the edge of a mixed container garden are Grape Hyacinths and Crocuses. Both of these flowers stay under six inches and produce a large color variety of blooms.
Planting Your Bulb Container Garden
Choose a container based on the type of bulb garden you want to grow, several bulbs of the same type or a mixed bulb garden. Mixed bulb gardens look best in large containers of any shape, with a minimum depth of eight inches. When you are using only one type of bulb, several plants look best in containers with a smaller diameter where they have more impact.
Fill the container with a layer of gravel on the bottom to help with drainage, add a layer of soil and peat moss on top of the soil. Do not fill the container all the way to the top with soil yet. Arrange your bulbs in the soil, if you are doing a mixed bulb container place the larger plants in the center and bulbs that will grow shorter plants around the edges. When planting your buds make sure you plant them pointed side up with the roots in the soil. Add another layer of soil over the tops of the bulbs to completely cover them.
Water the container of bulbs thoroughly, add more soil to the pot if it settles and exposes the tops of some of the bulbs. Place the container in a dark, cold storage area for ten weeks and then place in the area you want your garden to grow.
Tips For Caring For Your Garden
- While you have the containers in cold storage water at least once a week to keep the soil moist, don’t let the pot dry out.
- Once shoots begin to appear in the soil move your pot out of the dark and into the sun, your bulbs are ready to grow.
- If you cannot move your container garden indoors once summer arrives move them to a cold frame or place them in a protected area and cover with mulch or sphagnum moss.
By: Sophia Mark
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