Horticultural Tips from the John Scheepers Dutch Flower Bulbs Catalog

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Naturalizing Flower Bulbs

There is nothing more spectacular than vast drifts of naturalizing flower bulbs bursting into spring bloom. There is a tremendous array of varieties from which to choose for different colors, heights, bloom times and locations: woodlands, lawns or prepared garden beds. We suggest that you plant a section or two of naturalizing flower bulbs each fall to build on over time.

Hardiness Zone Map for the United States

Naturalizing Flower Bulbs

Bulbs for warmer climates

Heirloom flower bulbs

Moist soil conditions

Shady conditions

Fragrant flower bulbs

Rockgardens

Deer proof bulbs

By doing a little bit every fall, you will keep gardening with flower bulbs fun, learn how different varieties perform in your garden and create a garden for years of enjoyment with special plantings and signature combinations all your own. Like adorable drifts of galanthus outside of your kitchen window for the first hopeful signs of spring after a long, hard winter. Like a panorama of brilliant, electric blue Muscari beneath a sparkling panorama of pink and white Narcissi at a woodland’s edge. Like a yellow and white tapestry of Species Crocus emblazoning your lawn. Or, perhaps a fragrant backdrop of Oriental Lilies surrounding your back porch.

Choose here from among the following varieties of naturalizing flower bulbs: Galanthus, Anemone blanda, Crocus, Muscari, Scilla, Camassia, Allium sphaerocephalon, Rockgarden Iris, Puschkinia libanotica, Hyacinthoides, Ipheion uniflorum, Eranthis hyemalis, Geranium tuberosum, Oxalis adenophylla, Leucojum, Fritillaria meleagris, Ixiolirion pallasii, Chionodoxa, Ornithogalum, Lilies and Narcissi!

To promote perennialization, make sure to plant flower bulbs in well-draining, neutral pH soil (sandy loam is the best) with either full day, filtered sunlight or part day, full sunlight. Please allow the flower and foliage to grow and die back naturally: do not mow, tie up or braid the foliage. We also recommend fertilizing your naturalized plantings three times a year with our Dutch Organic Bulb Food. Do not mix the fertilizer into each planting hole when you are planting your bulbs since it could cause root burn and immature root growth. After the bulbs are planted, broadcast the fertilizer over the surface of the garden: the rain will water it in. Fertilize once in the fall after planting to help grow the root system. Fertilize a second time in the spring to help grow the foliage and flower. Finally, when the flower starts to die back in the late spring or early summer, fertilize a third time to help grow the bulb itself.

As tempting as it is, resist the urge to cut flowers from your naturalized plantings since it severely weakens the bulb for next year’s blooms. Plant a separate, annual cutting garden!