Bulbs In Containters

Growing flowers from bulbs is one of the easiest ways to garden. Every fall I plant as many as I have time for in my beds and then I save a few for planting in containers. That way I don't have to cut any of the beautiful flowers out of my garden.

You can grow many different types of spring flowering bulbs in containers and believe me, over the years, I've tried them all. But if there's one that I don't think I could do without, it would be the hyacinth because they smell so nice in my house in the early spring. And if you've ever tried to use one as a cut flower you know it doesn't work very well because the blooms start so close to the ground there's really not much stem at all.

When planting bulbs in containers, I just use a loose soil mix with plenty of sand so that it drains well. Then I place four to six bulbs, depending on their size, in the bottom of the container and then just cover them up. Once they're planted, just water them in.

It's all about coaxing that little flower out of the bulb. That will require a period of dormancy, usually about 15 weeks at temperatures below forty-five degrees. Now if you can't convince your neighbors to rent you a little refrigerator space, you'll have to rely on Mother Nature.

For their protection outdoors, I place them in a little corral made with wheat straw bales. Now the way this works is the sooner I can get them planted and in place, the sooner I can bring them indoors for late winter and early spring blooms.