Landscaping

However, this is probably the best time in the gardening-year to do just that! In my recent article Spring-blooming Bulb Designs Now, I elaborate on why I think so. And then in the followng article Pest-proof Spring-blooming Bulbs, I offer some practical design ideas for gardeners being overrun with bulb-eating and bulb-flower-destroying pests.

The reason I feel that midsummer is the time to plan for spring-blooming bulb gardens is that every spring, I hear stories from disappointed gardeners who spent a great bit of money and time in the previous autumn planting dream bulb gardens. Unfortunately, the dream often results in nighmares of green leaves and no flowers, a smorgasbord for neighborhood deer, or patches of bare ground. Why do these gardeners have little to show for their autumnal efforts?

1. Lack of planning, and
2. Buying bulbs on Impulse.

I remember all too well my first adventures four decades ago with planting spring bulbs. I was full to the brim with energy, enthusiasm and design ideas for small romantic urban bulb gardens in plant hardiness zone 7. Unfortunately, my first gardens were in rural western MA, straddling zones 4 to 5. Also, I frugally bought the cheapest (smallest) bulbs I found. Now I try to keep others from making some of my own disappointing mistakes.