Ahhh, Spring. Nothing says "Spring" in the garden as those early crocus, daffodils, and tulips. These are just one of many bulb flowers that are relatively easy to care for, and beautiful. If you've never worked with these rewarding plants, here are some simple ways to add them to your garden repertoire.

Bulb flowers are characterized as those who are grown from a specific bulb, instead of a seed. These bulbs house the plant material and "food" source of the plant. They are different than seed plants, as well, in that they can rebloom from the same bulb for several years, with proper care. Bulb plants are those plant derived from a bulb, which is somewhat oblong in shape. There are other classifications of plants that are similar--tuber plants, which are a mass of tubers--or a collection of thick roots that do not seem to have a top or bottom, but do have a root system. They are also known as rhizomes--more notable ones include sweet potatoes and dahlias.

Choosing Bulb Flowers:
The wonderful thing about choosing bulb flowers is that there is a huge variety of colorful flowers...some even say these flowers have "personality!" I can say that I find tulips to be elegant, while daffodils seem more cheery. Dahlias are mysterious and dramatic while peonies have an old-fashioned appeal. You can browse online and in your garden store to find what appeals to you. You should also consider the following to find the most healthy plants possible:

Good bulbs should be firm . Avoid those that seem as though they are damp or rotting. Rhizomes should also be firm, not moist, with decent root attachments. Neither bulbs nor roots should exhibit signs of external damage such as cracks and deep scratches. Buy from reputable dealers, whether from a nursery, or online. Some vendors will give a guarantee on their plants, so utilize this when possible.

Before planting, keep bulbs stored in a cool, dry location and avoid placing them in an area with direct sunlight. Planting is usually encouraged in the fall, 4 to 6 weeks that frost is due. The idea here is to plant them before the cold, encourage them to be dormant over winter, and then they will slowly grow as the ground warms up. I don't use this technique, mostly because my plants are relegated to pots (darn city gardening), and the second best thing to do in this case--or in cases where the soil is poor, has bad drainage, or there may be problems over-wintering...is to put them in the fridge (yes, you read that correctly) for a couple of weeks, and then take them out and plant them outside after all danger of frost has past. In this case, the cold of the refrigerator mimics winter temperatures, so voila, artificial cold. I've also planted bulbs directly into the garden in the early spring (February/March) , sans the cold method, and have had very good bloom results..

You should choose flowers that are hardy to the climate of your area. Several online guides and gardener's supply shops carry information and charts listing the U.S. plant hardiness zones. Once you determine the zone you live in, you can choose flowers appropriate to your locale. Below is a short list of bulb plants and their hardiness zones:

Early Spring Blooms:
Galanthus (Snowdrop) – Hardy to Zone 3
Eranthis (Winter Aconite) – Hardy to Zone 4

Mid-Spring Blooms:
Hyacinthus (Hyacinth) – Hardy to Zone 3
Muscari (Grape Hyacinth) – Hardy to Zone 3
Narcissus (Daffodil) – Hardy to Zone 4
Tulipa (Tulip) – Hardy to Zone 3
Crocus (Crocus) – Hardy to Zone 3
Anemone (Windflower) – Hardy to Zone 4
Scilla (Bluebell) – Hardy to Zone 3

Late Spring Blooms:
Allium (Allium) – Hardy to Zone 5
Convallaria (Lily of the Valley) – Hardy to Zone 3
Trillium (Wood Lily) – Hardy to Zone 5

Early-to-Mid Summer Blooms:
Gladiolus (Sword Lily) – Hardy to Zone 7
Iris (Iris) – Hardy to Zone 4
Dahlia (Dahlia) Hardy to Zone 8
Hemerocallis (Daylily) – Hardy to Zone 4
Lilium (Lily) – Hardy to Zone 4
Acidanthera (Peacock Flower) – Hardy to Zone 7
Ranunculus (Persian Buttercup) – Hardy to Zone 7

PLANTING ESSENTIALS:
As for planting depth...there have been very complicated guides written abou the depth that various bulbs should be planted at. I have found a very simple solution, as given to me by a friend several years ago. It seems to work:

*If it is a tulip, plant it five inches deep.
*If it is smaller than a tulip, plant it two to three inches deep.
*If it is bigger than a tulip, plant it eight inches deep.

Make a hole roughly twice the circumference of the plant so that its roots (especially if it's a tuber) can comfortably "settle" and note that your bulb may grow slightly while creating plants, within the year, especially if you fertilize it.

This End Up:
Yes, you might have found yourself in this situation...you stare at a bulb or, more likely, a rhizome plant, and you can't figure out which end is supposed to face upward when you plant. Trust me, it's happened to me, when I planted dahlias. In fact, it tends to happen more often when planting root plants simply because many species of these flowers appear very much like a large cluster of rods and roots, with no particular center or top or bottom. Meanwhile, bulbs are a bit easier, since the "bottom" is usually wider, and tapers more thinly as it comes to the "top."
In case you still find yourself scratching your head as to placement of your plants, I will convey a deep and ancient secret to you. It DOES NOT matter if you accidentally place the bulb upside down. They generally tend to "know" and the plant will wind around and push up through the dirt, anyhow. I had read this with scepticism before, but then one of my farm friends mentioned that she purposely planted a tulip bulb "wrong side" up, and that the plant STILL managed to push up through the soil and do very well.

MAINTENANCE:
Again, while many bulb plants seem exotic or fragile, they are generally uniform in their simple care:

My own dahlias, grown in the backyard city garden. .

1. Bulbs do NOT like too much water. The fastest way to kill them is to overwater them. This will effectively drown the bulb, or cause it to rot with moisture. Make sure you plant the bulb in soil that drains well, and if you are using pots, make sure the pots are well draining.

2. Bulbs/tubers/rhizomes tend to do best in full sun. Plant in an area that has at least 6 hours of sunlight.

3. Make sure the soil is rich, not too clay-ey, and add compost tea as needed, for fertilization. BE VERY CAREFUL with commercial fertilizers, as many are too strong and can actually burn bulbs. There are fertilizers that are designed for bulb flowers, but I tend to stick with the "natural" stuff, when necessary. Some bulbs/roots require special fertilizer, etc, so feel free to research your plants before you bring them into your care.

4. The LEAVES of your bulb plant are known as the "factory," or food source of the plant. While some people disdain at seeing leaves covering the lovely blooms on some bulb plants, CUTTING THE LEAVES will effectively bring about the plant's DEATH. Only when the leaves have turned brown and begin dying should you cut the leaves; in turn, the wilting leaves usually signal the last stages of your flower, and this will be the time when you prepare the bulb for storage.

5. On the other hand, you can cut flowers any time you wish. In some cases, such as with roots, you can cut on flower, and the plant will send up another flower elsewhere, so you can enjoy several blooms over an extended period.

6. Once the plant is spent, you can cut the brown leaves down and remove the bulbs. Some people would rather let the plant die down, and keep it where it is planted until next spring. But if you have the plant in pots, I just remove the bulb in the soil, wipe them off (it's important to make sure the moisture is removed from around the plant), and pack it into a paper bag with dry peat, and place it in an area away from direct sunlight. You can keep it this way until the next time you plant it.

7.You can also pack it this way and keep it in the fridge, but I would advise adding an extra silicone packet (the drying agent that comes in little packages that you often see in shoes at the shoe store), to keep the moisture from possible condensation from the fridge out. Also, when removing bulbs which have been stored this way, you should give them a few hours to "warm up" before transplanting them directly back into the soil in the spring, if you are planting them into warm soil.

In this way, you can enjoy your lovely flowers for many years to come!