planning next year's bulb plantings

When I look at my bulbs in full bloom, I often miss their beauty and instead focus on what I would like to change, and the gaps that should be filled.  But the time to purchase bulbs is in fall, long after any sign of them has disappeared.  So, to make sure I remember where to plant, I am posting these pictures with reminders of what I want to accomplish six months from now.

I enjoy the colours and variety in the front bed - tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths, forget-me-nots, and many more.

This area in the back is quite shady, but that just means the tulips bloom later. 
There is lots of room for more.

Five years ago, I found a bunch of bulbs thrown in a heap behind Veseys Seeds.  They had spent the winter exposed to the elements, and should have been dead, but some had sprouted.  I took some home, planted them, and they have bloomed faithfully ever since.

A ring around each tree fills up with hosta and is mulched with seaweed.  This is a reminder that lots more tulips should go in here.  These tulips, which I planted three years ago, were touted as being very long blooming, but they petered out really quickly.

This raised vegetable bed was built when the trees behind were small.  Now they cast so much shade, I repurposed the bed for tulips and shade perennials.

tulip time

Tulips.  Such variety of colours and shapes!  

I cleared out the rock garden - heaved out all the rocks, peeled back and pulled out the blasted landscape cloth (that stuff should be illegal), yanked out the horribly invasive but pretty creeping jenny, put down a layer of seaweed, and then replaced the rocks. 
Now I know why I avoided that job for so long. 
I have heard it said that a rockgarden is the most high-maintenance project, and it is true. 
Luckily, the red tulips survived my labours.

These tulips are probably 20 years old.  They just keep coming back. 
However, they are right in the middle of a vegetable bed. 
When I moved them last year, I missed these two.

These tulips always start out yellow, and I always wonder, because I didn't plant yellow tulips.
Then they turn a creamy orange, and I remember I wondered the same thing last year.

Princess Irene - lovely flames and white-edged leaves

My favourite group of tulips is clustered around the flowering crab apple tree.  I am certain I chose only pink tulips (to blend in with the pink apple blossoms) but now years later the colours have reverted.  I like the bold mix of colours.

daffodils

Tulips are considered the stars of spring bulbs, but daffodils are highly underrated.  

In my experience, daffodils bloom earlier and for a longer period of time than tulips.  

They seem to last for many more years, with the clumps getting bigger, and the flowers more numerous.  And they come in an array of shapes and sizes, in shades of orange, yellow, and white. 

The traditional yellow daff, called Dutch Master

My favourite daffodil is Thalia, a short variety (30 cm) with multiple pure white flowrers on each stalk.  These were planted about 10 years ago and still come back beautifully every year.

This is Poet's daffodil.  Very fragrant, and blooms quite late - here in late May.

A few growing tips: 

• they like full sun, but will happily bloom a bit later in half shade.
• The bulbs are quite big, so dig a deep hole (3 x the height of the bulb)
• plant in groups of at least 3, not in lines like soldiers
• choose a dry spot with no standing water - daffs hate wet feet
• after blooming, cut off the stalk to prevent seeds from forming, but the leaves must stay until they turn brown.  On PEI, that is usually August.  Through photosynthesis, the leaves make food to feed the bulb so it can bloom next year.