Stunning bloomers: Flower bulbs make great holiday gifts

You don’t have to be an avid gardener to appreciate the gift of flower bulbs. As most bulbs appropriate for our climate bloom in spring or summer, when received at the beginning of winter bulbs give the gift of happy anticipation of good things to come.

Bulbs are thick underground storage organs that help plants survive tough weather conditions, such as droughts or cold. Common northern species, like tulips, need an extended cold resting period, and our winters are too warm to provide this type of dormancy.

However, gardeners can choose from a wide variety of flower bulbs appropriate for north Florida. Let’s take a look at some bulbs that are both appropriate for our climate and readily available either in local nurseries or online.

Daffodils and Narcissus

The Narcissus genus includes daffodils, jonquils, and narcissus, which, truthfully, are all the same plant.

When I think of bulbs for spring, daffodils come to mind first, and with careful selection, your daffodils will naturalize, giving you more flowers each year. Some that are great for our area include large varieties like Carlton, Ice Follies, Barrett Browning, and medium sized varieties like Sweetness (fragrant), Thalia, and Trevithian.

There are also small-flowered daffodils, miniature daffodils, and those with small flower clusters. The latter group includes paper white narcissus with varieties such as Grand Soleil d’Or and Ziva, which are often forced for indoor blooming during winter holidays. After bulbs are forced (grown inside in conditions simulating spring weather), the bulbs can be planted outside.

As with most bulbs, daffodils should be planted in clusters for best show. Besides adding cheery color to your early spring yard, daffodils have the advantage of being of no interest to deer.

Amaryllis

You’ll not only find bare root amaryllis bulbs for sale in nurseries now, but you’ll also see them in other stores packaged as gifts, often in gravel-filled containers ready for forcing.

While many see these gift amaryllis as one-time bloomers, they can also be used in a home landscape as colorful accents when planted outdoors after the forced blooms fade. They are especially beautiful if planted in large groupings of the same variety.

Amaryllis come in a large variety of colors such as red, pink, orange, and white. There are double blooming varieties as well as singles, and many are striped or have throats or petal edges with darker colors.

If you want to force your amaryllis bulb, plant it in a container not much bigger than the bulb itself in a well-draining potting mix. Make sure there is a drainage hole and that you plant the bulb so that the top inch of the bulb sits above the soil line. Water after planting, and your bulb should flower in about six weeks.

Once your amaryllis has finished blooming inside and sometime before the end of January, plant it in the landscape in full sun in soil that does not remain moist. Water when the soil is dry to the touch.

As these plants naturalize well, they will bloom reliably each year in March or April. Cut the flower stalks once they have finished blooming to ensure plentiful blossoms the next year.

In our area, amaryllis generally overwinter pretty well. Providing mulch over the bulbs after the leaves die adds an extra measure of protection.

Crinum

A bulb that you might not think about for holiday gift-giving is the crinum, a bulb so durable that it can easily outlive you. These bulbs are reliably cold hardy in our area and will reward the grower in at least a couple of ways.

First, crinums flower reliably spring to fall, depending on the variety, and produce lovely clusters of flowers that range in color from white to magenta. And secondly, if grown under the right conditions, crinum bulbs multiply generously. By separating them, you’ll have even more flowers each year. In addition, crinums multiply readily by seed.

Crinums are pretty tolerant of a variety of soil conditions, but they do prefer to be moist, but not wet. They are ideal for rain gardens and other areas that receive runoff. And like many flowers from bulbs, crinum blooms make lovely cut flowers.

You may have some difficulty finding crinum bulbs locally that are not already potted, but there are a few growers in the southeast that raise gorgeous varieties which can be shipped to you or to your lucky gift recipient.

Spanish Bluebells

Spanish bluebells produce showy, bell-shaped, lavender-blue flowers. The flowers bloom in late spring, and each bulb produces multiple flower stalks. Spanish bluebells form clumps and naturalize easily, spreading both by bulb offsets and by seeds.

They prefer moist, well-drained soil and part sun or partial shade but will tolerate full sun to full shade. Use these bulbs to add spring color at the woodland edge, under deciduous trees, or in rock gardens, woodland gardens, borders, beds, or pots. Consider mixing them with daffodils for a beautiful contrast.

Other great bulbs for gifting

Additional flower bulbs that you might consider as gifts include spring star flowers, snowflakes, hyacinths, anemones, and ranunculus. Hyacinths are another bulb frequently used for forcing.

If purchasing bulbs from sources other than local nurseries, please do some research to assure that the varieties you buy will thrive in our hardiness zone 9a. You’ll do best with bulbs that have been raised in our area, or at least in the southeast, as these are most likely to naturalize and persist in your yard year after year.

Planting and maintaining your bulbs

In general, plant bulbs at a depth of three times their size. Amaryllis is an exception to this rule and planting them too deep will result in some leaves and no flowers. Most bulbs will taper to a point; make sure you plant the bulb with the point up.

Plant them in fertile soil that drains well, either in pots or directly in the ground. You can amend soil with bone meal or bulb fertilizer, but if the soil doesn’t drain well, the bulbs won’t last as long. Group your bulbs, rather than planting in a straight line, for a more natural look.

Foraging wildlife may dig up your bulbs, so consider covering the soil over your bulbs with a wire mesh with half-inch holes to protect them. Topping the area with mulch will also help, and the mulch will additionally keep the soil warmer resulting in faster root development.

Water your bulbs well after planting and during the growing season but withhold water after they bloom. Don’t cut back the leaves after the bulbs flower because this foliage is creating food for next year’s blooms as it fades.

Many bulbs profit from digging them up every few years and separating clumps in order to keep them blooming at their best. You can plant your multiplied bulbs, share them with friends, or even give them as holiday gifts. Flower bulbs can truly be the gift that keeps on giving!

Susan Barnes is a Master Gardener Volunteer with UF/IFAS Leon County Extension, an Equal Opportunity Institution. For gardening questions, email AskAMasterGardener@ifas.ufl.edu.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Flower bulbs put the bloom in holiday giving for years to come