Normally, caring for bulbous flowers seems quite simple and easy. You take the bulbs out of the packaging, plant them in the soil of your garden, cover them with enough topsoil, and water them thoroughly. With a bit of luck, the bulbous flower will eventually sprout, and you can call a colorful flower meadow your own – or so one might think. To ensure you enjoy your bulbous flowers for a long time, a certain level of care should be observed.
Planting flower bulbs correctly
Certain bulbous flowers that bloom very early should be planted in the autumn. This is the only way they can grow roots. The reason for this is the coolness and moisture. Always bury flower bulbs, such as tulips, hyacinths, or daffodils, twice as deep as they are thick.
What should you pay attention to when planting bulbous plants?
In the first year, freshly planted bulbous flowers have hardly any requirements. They have stored enough nutrients in their bulb cells, so fertilization or other care is almost unnecessary.
Exceptions: lush summer bloomers like gladioli, dahlias, or lilies love fertilizer and will thank the gardener if a portion of compost is added to the planting hole.
In the autumn, when the bulbous flowers have already done their best work, a thin layer of compost is applied to the flower beds. Also suitable are horn shavings, blood meal, or bone meal. For soils lower in minerals, the use of special flower fertilizer is advisable. This fertilizer contains a special portion of minerals and refreshes the topsoil.
Important tip: for many bulbous flowers, however, fertilizer can lead to “burns” of the fine roots. To prevent this, it is advisable not to apply the fertilizer directly to dry soil, but to perform appropriate watering.
Sensitive wild bulbous flowers, which like to settle in woody areas and lawns, do not require much effort. Simply leave a little foliage on the lawn in the autumn so that the flowers can supply themselves with organic nutrients.
Important for autumn: after flowering, you can stop fertilizing until the next spring. Now the flowers need rest to prepare for the winter phase.
How should I water my bulbous flowers?
As a rule, bulbous flowers should be watered regularly, just like all other flowers. Advantage: the bulbous flowers provide themselves excellently with their own water supply. In spring, the soil usually contains plenty of liquid, so the flowers can soak up plenty of water.
Tip: pay attention to typical woodland edge species such as winter aconite, bluebells, or corydalis. These bulbous flowers love the sun and are therefore often found in sunny as well as semi-shaded areas. Therefore, these flowers need a little more water. Furthermore, there are bulbous flower species such as canna lilies, dahlias, and tuberous begonias that like to drink a lot. Especially during heat waves, daily watering is advisable. Simply water the flowers in the late afternoon, then the bulbous flowers can absorb plenty of water.
How do I deal with shoots?
Tall-growing flowers with larger blooms like lilies and gladioli bend easily. Therefore, it is better to plant these bulbous flowers in wind-protected areas and tie the stems in good time to a support stake (e.g., a thin bamboo stake).
Tip: it is best to place the stake in the ground when planting the bulb. This prevents piercing and injuring the bulb itself if you push the stake into the ground later.
If you have a large group of flowers that needs support, a support ringOil and grease
What do I do when the flowering time is over?
Bulbous flowers also form seeds. However, this formation is associated with a lot of energy for every plant. Support your flowers by cutting off the faded flower stems soon after they have finished blooming. Exception: bulbous flowers that you intend to naturalize. The leaves remain until they have withered and turned yellow. The plant still draws reserve substances from them here.
Read also: Use coffee grounds or ash as fertilizer for flowers
Photo by Sabine, meinhaushalt.at
