As the summer garden winds down, it’s time to think about spring flowers, and the best way to ramp them up would be to plant bulbs now. We’re all familiar with , daffodils and hyacinths, the popular, colorful — and omnipresent – harbingers of spring. But there’s a class of lesser-known beauties called minor bulbs that may not get as much attention, and that’s unfortunate because they can provide the earliest splashes of color when our souls need it the most.
Make no mistake: Minor bulbs get their name from their size, not their importance . Most are less than an inch in diameter, which makes them easy to plant, but their impact is great. They also tend to , each year, and can be planted in large groupings under trees and shrubs or even right in the lawn, where their foliage usually dies down just as mowing season begins.
You might even interplant minor bulbs with tulips and daffodils to start the party early. Which bulbs are ‘minor bulbs’? Perhaps the most well-known of the minor bulbs is the crocus (Crocus spp.), which displays white, cream, purple, lavender, orange or yellow flowers above 2- to 5-inch-tall stems and grassy foliage.
Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) is another ground-hugger, reaching only 3-6 inches tall. Its shiny, upward-facing, yellow, buttercup flowers will unleash a carpet of color over bare soil or a dormant lawn as you await the beginning of spring. It’s also great in rock gardens.
Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalus) is a 3- to 6-inch plan.
