Every garden should include some spring-blooming bulbs. And some fall-blooming bulbs as well. “But” you say – “my entire garden is devoted to native plants to support native pollinators and other native critters; and hyacinths, crocus, tulips and daffodils are not even native to the North American continent”.
While growing an all-native garden is a great idea, and supporting our local ecosystems is an important endeavor, there are good reasons for including some non-native plants, especially plants that extend the flowering season at either end. They will attract and support honeybees, bumblebees, mason bees, and other pollinating insects at times of the year when flowers are relatively scarce.
If deer roam in your yard, we offer a lovely assortment of highly deer-resistant (toxic to deer) spring-flowering Narcissus (daffodils) that span from early to late spring, in many sizes and color combos, some of them quite fragrant.
Fritillaria ‘Sunset’
Also highly deer-resistant is the early and dramatic burnt-orange Fritillaria imperialis ‘Sunset’, Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), highly fragrant Hyacinths, Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxa forbesii), fragrant blue Dwarf Species Iris, many varieties of Flowering Onions (Allium), Grecian Windflower (Anemone blanda ‘Blue Shades’) and quite a few more!
If deer are not an issue in your garden, you can grow all of the above, plus Snow (species) Crocus and Giant (Dutch) Crocus, terrific naturalizers in many colors, and Tulips in an assortment of sizes, forms and colors, patterns and fragrance to span from early to late spring. We choose many varieties for their ability to return year after year, and for their exceptional beauty.
Tulipa kaufmanniana ‘The First’
A personal favorite of mine is Tulipa kaufmanniana ‘The First’, which despite its prosaic name, is an extra-early, elegant, easy to grow and long-lived ‘waterlily’ tulip with large, yellow-based white flowers, striped red on the outside, on short stems rising from attractive grey foliage. It naturalizes freely and provides a long succession of blooms that are just as beautiful when blossoms are closed on cloudy days and at the beginning and end of the day as they are when wide open in the sun (looking like waterlilies). Other species tulips, like Persian Pearl’, ‘Lilac Wonder’ and ‘Little Beauty’ are vivid jewels that light up the early spring garden for many successive years.
Allium cernuum – Nodding Onion
It is true that not many hardy North American species that grow from bulbs or corms are native in Colorado. A few Allium (flowering onion) species like Allium geyeri, A. textile (both very small and not very showy), and Nodding Onion (A. cernuum – not bulb-forming) are front range natives. We grow them from wild-collected seed in pots whenever we can, but they are not commercially available as bulbs. The beautiful white Sego Lily (Mariposa Lily) that adorns our foothills meadows in June is not only unavailable as a bulb, but quite difficult and slow to grow from seed in pots.
We do offer several beautiful and successful native Western American wildflowers that grow from bulbs. The following varieties will serve as welcome sources of pollen and nectar to spring pollinators, native and non-native, and will add easy color and form to please the gardener and viewer:
Allium ‘Graceful Beauty’
Allium amplectens ‘Graceful Beauty’:
Circa 1857, this delicate-looking yet easy-growing North American native grows 12 to 16” tall on sturdy stems topped by composite 3″ globes of star-shaped, sparkling white flowers with pale lavender stamens tipped with purple anthers and sturdy stems. Like all Flowering Onions, ‘Graceful Beauty’ attracts and supports numerous species of bees with its generous nectar and
pollen. Bloom time: May/June. Zone 4-8.
Brodeia (Tritelia) ’Rudy’: This gorgeous California native, 12 to 18” tall, features starry, milky-blue flowers contrasted with vivid indigo mid-veins accompanied by 14” tall, grassy foliage. Umbels of 2” elongated flowers pop up in late Spring and last well into mid-Summer. ‘Rudy’ will naturalize readily in most soils and a bit of regular moisture during the growing season will bring you a fuller display each year They will grow in any fertile, reasonably well-drained soil with winter and spring moisture and summer dryness. Plant in masses or among bright perennials like Gaillardia, in full sun to light shade (insufficient sunlight will result in lax, horizontal stems). Bloom time in horticultural zone 5 is May/June. Plant 4″ deep and 3″ to 4″ apart. Also makes a fabulous cut flower! Hardy to Zone 5a.
Camassia – ‘Blue Melody’
Camassia ‘Blue Melody’: Z4. 12-18” tall. Blooms late spring to early summer. Compost-improved soil.
Blue Melody Camas is native to the Pacific Northwest and appreciates fertile, average to moist soil in full sun or part shade. Can go in a low spot in your garden. Excellent cut flower. Deer and rabbit resistant. These incredibly showy, lapis-colored blooms open sequentially from the bottom of the stem up to the top. Naturalizes well and fills in the gap between the bloom of Daffodils and Tulips. Looks terrific interplanted with mid-spring perennials like candytuft and snow in summer.