If there’s one thing I absolutely love about nature, it’s watching flowers bloom in early Spring. The earliest blooms are from Fall bulbs planted for Spring flowers.

Winter always feels like the most stagnant season. Trees have long since shed their leaves.

Grass takes a break from growing. Plants are often buried under blankets of snow.

Animals use winter to take a respite. Even gardeners use winter as a time of rest.

As winter makes its exit, there’s something magical about seeing little pops of color coming to life and bursting forth from the hardened ground. 

Not only can it be heartening to see early blooming flowers (goodbye winter!), they also help to attract bees to your garden – which is great for pollination!

When to Plant Bulbs for Spring Flowers

If you want to be sure to have plenty of early-blooming spring flowers, the best time to plant bulbs is actually in late fall to early winter.

This gives them time to grow their roots before the harsh cold of winter fully sets in.

Since most bulbs need around 3 months to prepare underground before blooming, planting around this time gives them ample opportunity to establish themselves before putting on the colorful show we love. 

To give your spring flowers the best chance, you should be sure to plant them before the first frost of the season. 

Not sure when that is? Almanac.com is a great resource!

They have a very user-friendly tool on their website to help you estimate the first and last frosts of the season.

Simply open their Frost Dates Calculator, enter your zip code, and it will tell you the the average date of the last spring frost and first fall frost based on the weather station that is closest to your location.

You can then use this as a guide for when you should plant your bulbs. 

How to Pick the Best Bulbs

When picking bulbs, you should use similar guidelines as when you’re choosing fruit and veggies. For one, you want to choose bulbs that are plump and firm.

If they are soft or mushy, they’re probably not going to last the winter season or yield a good bloom. Avoid any that have mold or funky odors.

You should also generally choose big bulbs. Big bulbs mean big flowers. 

Best Flower Bulbs to Plant in Fall for Spring Flowers

Wondering which bulbs you should plant right now? Here is a quick guide:

Snowdrop

These flowers get their name not only from their white coloring, but because they can often be found poking through the snow.

These bell-shaped flowers symbolize new beginnings. How fitting!

Crocus

These vibrantly-colored, sweet smelling beauties are a favorite of bees.

They are also known to bloom in early spring, heralding the arrival of spring. 

 Daffodils

These hardy perennials have a long flowering life. In some areas, you can enjoy their colors for up to 6 months!

These are also amongst the easiest flowers to grow, making them a great choice for beginner gardeners. 

Grape Hyacinth

Though these lovely blue flowers don’t bloom for long, you will have 3 weeks to enjoy their glory.

They are also great if you love tall flowers -they can reach up to 10 inches in height!

Scilla

If you love blue flowers, another great option is scilla. This star-shaped flower comes in a variety of colors, including blue.

They are glorious when added to bouquets. 

Eranthis

Growing even earlier than the crocus, this yellow flowers (which are technically tubers rather than bulbs) will often pop up during late winter. Hence the reason they are also called winter aconite. 

Making Sure the Soil is Right for Planting Bulbs

When it comes to finding the perfect time to plant your flower bulb collection, you want to keep in mind the hardness and wetness of the soil. You want to pick a time when the soil is still pliable.

After all, you’re going to have to do quite a bit of digging.

That’s why it’s important to plant before winter causes the ground to freeze and harden. 

You also need to make sure that the ground isn’t too wet. If you plant the bulbs in soggy soil, what will likely happen is that the bulbs will rot. Rotten bulbs won’t bloom, so all of your hard work will be wasted. 

If you don’t already have an established garden or plot, you will need to make sure your soil is ready for planting.

That will likely involve removing weeds and rocks as well as tilling the soil so it’s easier to work with.

You should also add mulch or compost to give the bulbs some added nutrients. 

How to Plant Bulbs in Fall for Spring Flowers

My biggest piece of advice is to follow the directions on the labels.

They will give you all the information you need regarding where, when, and how to plant the bulbs. Most of them also give you tips that are specific to your region of the world. 

When planting bulbs, keep in mind both water and sunlight sources. Bulbs love sunlight and don’t need to be planted anywhere that is constantly wet. 

When planting, make sure you plant the bulb root-side down.

That way, the roots can establish themselves in the right direction.

If you’re confused about which side is the root-side, a good measure to take is to plant the bulb on its side. They are usually able to self-correct as they grow. 

You can dig by hand, or if your soil is nice and loose, use this bulb planting tool. They work great and make the job even easier.

Be sure to plant the bulbs 5 to 8 inches below the surface and give them an initial watering.

As long as your area of the world gets a decent amount of rain, there’s no need to water them beyond that. 

Protecting the Bulbs from Wildlife

Do you live in an area with a lot of wildlife and worry about them digging up your bulbs?

Gophers can be a real problem! If so, there are actually a few bulbs you can plan to deter them.

We recommend planting bulbs of onion, garlic, or shallots. The scent will usually repel animals that would otherwise enjoy a bulb buffet.

Daffodils are also poisonous to most animals, so if you have some on hand, it helps to plant a few around your other flower bulbs. 

I hope this has given you enough information to start planting your bulbs for spring flowers. Here’s to wishing you a colorful spring!

More articles about Growing Flowers

Low Maintenance Perennials for the Shade – how we created a flower bed for the shadiest spot in our yard

How to Get the Most From a Small Garden – tips and tricks to maximize your garden space

The Very Best Gifts for Gardeners – Feed their hobby!

How to Make a Pathway Flower Bed – low maintenance perennials for the sun

Check out this post and learn How to Grow Hops in your own garden! This unique plant is a crucial ingredient in beer and is surprisingly simple to grow, even for amateur gardeners!

Growing hops at home is pretty easy and the vine adds plenty of visual interest to your garden. A fast grower, the vine will set hops the first year. The hops themselves can be used to brew a batch of homemade beer. Check out this guide and learn how to grow your own hops!

What Are Hops?

The term hops refers to the cone-shaped green flowers of the plant Humulus lupulus. Hop cones contain lupulin glands, which are the primary source of flavor, bitterness, and aroma in making beer.

Though hops do have both male and female plants, only the females are typically used in commercial hops production. When it comes to getting your own hop plant garden started, it may be wise to separate male and female plants whenever possible.

When it comes to hop variety names, many of the classifications are based on a few categories, such as geography, the name of the farmer recognized as their first cultivator, or growing patterns.

Hop vines can grow up to 15 or 20 feet tall, so be sure to allow ample space for growth. Use some kind of strong trellis or other support system to give your hop vines the best chance of flourishing.

When it comes to growing season, most varieties of hops will begin to bloom in the summer. Plant them in the early spring, but late enough to avoid any frosting. About 6 months without frost are necessary for your hops to properly flower.

How to Grow Hops

1. You can buy a vine in a container so you don’t have to grow from seed. Hops like fertile soil, although I would not do very heavy amending. Typically, you’ll start from hops rhizomes, which are root cuttings from mature female hops plants that will grow from a stem into their own plant.
2. Add some compost to the planting hole. Unless your soil is terribly poor, the hops will grow fine.
3. Hops will benefit from frequent light watering, so be sure to keep a close eye on the plants and their moisture level.

Growing Hops on a Trellis

Since hops grow from a vine, they need some type of support. Plant the hops where it has something to grow along. A wire fence or strong trellis is ideal. 

A stand alone garden pergola would look great covered in hops. You could also grow it up a lattice trellis, like this one, provided it was sturdy enough.

Really think about whether you want to plant a hops vine close to your house. The vines grow quickly and they grow thick.

They can easily get under vinyl siding or grow up along wood siding until they find something to cling to.

During the earlier months of the growing season, the vine will just pour on the growth. Seriously. They grow FAST. Since it is a perennial, it will come back every year. Wouldn’t this be absolutely beautiful growing up a pergola?

It would provide a beautiful shaded seating area in the summer.

Look how many hops there are growing on this really healthy vine. Hops grow very quickly and you will need to prune them several times during the growing season. We prune all the new shoots, leaving only about 4 to grow for the season.

The photo above shows the hops in mid summer. Many of the hops are still closed but they will grow and get quite a bit larger before they are ready to be harvested. Allow them to twine up whatever structure you’ve set out for them as undisturbed as possible.

Tips on Caring for Hops

• For best results, grow your hops in part-sun or direct sunlight if possible, and plant them in well draining soil.
• When choosing a place to plant, choose a nice fertile soil. Manure or organic fertilizer can be helpful for providing additional nutrients like potassium, phosphate, and nitrogen.
• If you give the hop plant a good location for establishing its root system, it’s more likely that this perennial will continue to produce year after year.
• Choose soil with a pH level in the window of 6-7.
• Weed control can be achieved with some light mulch or straw spread on top of the soil.
• In the early stages of growth, keep your hops nice and pruned to aid in air circulation and reduce threats like pests and potential disease.
• Hop plants are most commonly plagued with aphids, spider mites, or a powdery, downy mildew. The number one way to avoid these issues is to water only as necessary. This often means watering sparsely but often, and is the reason why well draining soil is important.

Harvesting Hops

These are still growing and so are not ready to pick yet. You can easily tell when they are mature. If they feel flat between your fingers when you squeeze them, it is too early.

Mature hops will be quite dry. When you squeeze and then release them, they spring back to their natural size easily. They will feel kind of papery and dry.

This is when they are ready for harvest. In many climates, this will happen sometime around August or September.

For your first harvest, I recommend doing it by hand. Pick them carefully to avoid breaking the hops and releasing all of that crucial yellow lupulin.

Vacuum seal dried and harvested hops to be stored stored in the freezer. This will maintain freshness after they’ve been removed from the bines.

Hops Add Vertical Interest to your Garden

Since we don’t use the hops for home brewed beer, we just leave the hops on the vine. The vine looks really beautiful all summer long, but in the Fall, it really becomes striking to look at. These hops have been left too long on the vine to use but they still look beautiful.

The vine will die back in early winter here. At that point we cut it all back to the ground and burn the leaves and hops. You could do this in spring if you would rather. New shoots will come out of the ground and start again.

Each year the roots will become stronger and stronger. If you need to keep the hops contained somewhat, you need to be vigilant about pruning it hard.

Hops is a beautiful vine that you can grow to add great visual interest to your yard. In Winter, it looks pretty with snow on it. It grows fast in spring, sets the hops in early summer and they grow until fall.

More Posts You’ll Love

• Want to add some flowers to your yard? Here’s how to create a beautiful flower bed.
• Here’s a homemade recipe to kill poison ivy and other weeds
• Rhubarb is an awesome perennial, especially for northern gardens. Here’s how to grow Rhubarb.
• This is a great additional resource with information about hops.

Adding a flower bed makes such a beautiful difference to your yard. If you think your home is lacking some curb appeal, a flower bed is one of the easiest ways to change that. It doesn’t take long to make one or to maintain one, especially if you use perennial plants. Here’s how to make a flower bed.

How to Create a Perennial Flower Bed

First of course, you have to figure out where you want the new flower bed to be. Do you want it to run along side your walkway to your entryway? Or along the base of your house?

If you are going to make a flowerbed, you can easily use a water hose to figure out the shape. Run the hose the length of the bed and curve it if you like. I like the look of a slightly curved flowerbed and that’s what we went with.

My new bed was going to run alongside a pathway that takes us from our vegetable garden to the barn below. I laid the hose out and played around with possibilities for the shape.

I went back up to the house so I could see it from that viewpoint. Be sure to stand back and take a different look. You can easily rearrange the shape now so you can see the new flower bed from several spots around your house and yard.

Cutting out the grass for a new flower bed

Once I had the shape and length figured out, we used an edger to slice through the grass that was there. Then we dug out the soil to a depth of about a foot.

All that sod was a pain to get out of there; definitely the hardest part of the job. Once that was done, we filled the bed with a LOT of really well composted manure.

You can use other kinds of compost too – since we raise animals here, we always have compost to add to flower beds.

Planting Perennials

When you dig your holes for planting, make sure to make them much bigger all the way around, than the plant. And be sure there is a deep layer of compost for the plant.

It’s also a good idea to add some bone meal or blood meal. Or a time release fertilizer works too.

Place your perennial in the hole and bring the soil back up to level. Make sure to press down and compact the soil (not too much). Get those roots settled in.

If you make a saucer like edge about 8 inches from the plant, this will retain more water and not allow any run off.

Here’s the bed after planting. It’s not finished yet; we will add the pathway edging and gravel to really finish this project off.

But for now, the perennial flower bed is finished and we are just waiting on the flowers to grow.

Here’s how the flower bed looked in its first year. You can see how well those plants have already started filling out. Good thing we didn’t plant them too close together. The following year, these plants should explode in growth if all goes well.

The same bed, 2 years later

Here’s the bed a couple of years later. The perennials keep coming back every year, bigger and bigger. Pretty soon, I can start dividing some of these plants if I want.

After a year we planted an apple tree in this pathway garden. Here’s how to plant fruit trees – plant one this year and enjoy harvesting your own apples or peaches.

I ended up transplanting a small native Saskatoon berry bush in this long bed as well. Native bushes don’t like to be moved and often the transplant won’t work. Here’s how to transplant a small bush or shrub.

If you have a shady area in your yard, why not make a flower bed for the shade? Perennial shade plants often have beautiful foliage. Here’s how I tricked up our front entryway with a flower bed for this very shady spot.

Find out how you can save water in your gardens.