4 Fragrant Spring Flowering Bulbs
When you think of spring flowers, your mind wanders to images of bright yellow daffodils, bold red tulips, and dazzling blue hyacinths. Each of these plants is produced from perennial bulbs which means that once planted, they will return and flower each following year.
Bulbs make the perfect spring plant due to their
- ease of maintenance,
- ability to be planted ahead of spring,
- and their beautiful, fragrant flowers.
To help you achieve a beautiful garden this spring, keep on reading for a list of 4 fragrant spring-flowering bulbs you can plant in your garden.
Reasons To Plant Fragrant Spring Flowering Bulbs
Bulbs are an excellent choice of flower to plant to achieve spring-blooming flowers. As most are planted earlier than spring, the majority of the hard work has been completed and they just require general care and support to grow.
Here are three reasons to plant bulbs in your garden for spring:
They support pollinators
In early spring, pollinators are still struggling for food sources and rely on spring-flowering plants. By planting a range of bulbs early in the year, you are providing an annual source of food for bees and other important pollinators.
By supporting pollinator numbers, you are indirectly helping your garden as pollinators are essential for fertilizing many flowers and crops.
Add Colour
Flowering bulb plants are available in a range of colors and varieties, not just daffodils. When blooming, they provide your outdoor space with a beautiful, colorful garden that’s inviting, warm, and cozy.
Prepared in Advance
Springtime is the perfect opportunity to clean, maintain, and prepare your garden after the winter. It can be quite busy preparing garden beds, de-weeding your garden, removing pests, and getting crops ready.
By choosing spring-flowering bulbs instead of seeds can help save you time. Most spring-flowering bulbs can be planted in advance towards the end of autumn or the beginning of winter.
This helps save you time during the spring when you are busy completing other important tasks to prepare your garden whilst ensuring your garden will soon be full of new life as your bulbs begin to grow.
How To Plant Spring Flowering Bulbs
Prepare the Soil
Before planting your bulbs, you need to ensure the soil is full of nutrients and well-drained. Heavy rains can compact soil making drainage difficult, plus can leach essential nutrients.
Add compost whilst turning the soil. This helps replenish nutrient levels as well as improve drainage.
Plant Bulbs Before the Frost
If frost has arrived before you have planted your bulbs, it’s too late and you will have to wait until early spring.
However, if you are prepared, you can plant your bulbs at the end of Autumn or early Winter before the first frost has come.
It is important to do so before the frost arrives as it provides time for your bulbs to grow roots. Roots will help position your bulbs throughout the winter months whilst they lay dormant.
Add Mulch
To help your bulbs stay in place and offer protection during the colder months, add a thick layer of mulch on top of your soil. This helps to insulate the soil and your bulb plus provides some protection from strong winds and heavy rains.
Add Nutrients
After the last frost before spring, add organic compost to the soil where you planted your bulbs. As your bulbs come out of dormancy, the nutrients will support their growth providing them with much-needed food.
4 Fragrant Spring Flowering Bulbs To Grow In Your Garden
The following spring-flowering bulbs will offer your garden color and fragrance along with easy-to-maintain perennial flowers that grow back each following year:
Hyacinths
One of the most colorful and fragrant spring-flowering bulbs, hyacinths are an excellent choice for your garden.
Available in a range of colors including pink, purple, red, blue, yellow, and white, they stand out and provide vibrant colors to your flower beds and pots.
Hyacinths are easy to grow and are best planted in Autumn to be ready to flower in March and April.
They like well-drained soil and to be positioned in full sunlight. Once planted, ensure to water them straight after. They do well in borders or containers and can be grown indoors if preferred.
Muscari
Muscari flowers are similar to hyacinths but miniature, with beautiful delicate blue flowers that grow in clusters.
This spring flower is best planted between September and November ready to flower in April and May. Muscari prefers moist, well-drained soil with at least partial sunlight.
Unlike many spring-flowering bulbs, Muscari spreads easily. To avoid them overtaking your garden, you can either plant them in containers or cut back flowers before seeds develop.
After the growing season has finished, you can carefully remove the bulbs and divide clumps to store ready for replanting in late Autumn.
Tulips
Tulips are a classic spring bulb that is best planted in November ready to flower in the middle of spring.
Available in a range of bright and pastel shades of reds, purples, yellows, and pinks, The delicate, round petals are a beautiful display in spring.
Tulips are best planted in well-drained soil and in a position that is sheltered with full sunlight.
Unfortunately, although tulips are a perennial spring flower, they only flower well for one year. Most gardeners will dig up tulip bulbs after the flowering season to replant fresh ones each year.
Daffodils
Growing in yellows and whites, different sizes, and shaped petals, daffodils can brighten up your garden in spring.
Daffodils have a classic trumpet-shaped center with large petals surrounding them. They are best planted in September ready to flower in spring and require well-drained soil and sunlight.
This spring-flowering bulb reliably regrows year after year. To ensure your daffodils thrive, dig up the bulbs every few years to divide them and replant them. Also, ensure to protect them over the winter by covering the soil with mulch.
These spring-flowering bulbs will not only provide your garden with a beautiful display of color and amazing aroma in spring. They also provide a vital food source for local wildlife, particularly pollinators.
Bulbs are easy to maintain and require a small amount of ongoing care each year. With most bulbs blooming year after year, they offer even more flowers without the need to invest in more plants.
For more top tips on what plants to add to your garden, read these posts for a beautiful, flowering garden all year round:
