Fall is the time to consider one of many glories of the spring backyard: the bulb layer. Dry, dormant bulbs for crops akin to daffodils, crocuses, tulips and alliums, tucked into the cooling soil of autumn, will spend the chilly, grey winter making ready to stir hearts in spring.

Planting bulbs is straightforward and satisfying, mentioned Rachel White, horticulturist of The Gerard T. Donnelly Grand Backyard, which has simply been put in at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. Among the many bushes, shrubs and perennials, White and her crew will quickly be planting bulbs to bloom not solely in spring, however via subsequent summer season.

So as to add fall-planted bulbs to your personal backyard, observe a couple of straightforward guidelines:

Select an excellent website. Practically all bulbs want well-drained soil and full solar.

Dig a deep gap. “It must be no less than twice as deep because the bulb is vast,” White mentioned. “Err on the facet of planting just a little deeper.” In a deep gap, the bulb can be safely insulated by soil towards fluctuations in climate.

Place the foundation finish down. Tulips and daffodils make it straightforward: They’ve a sharp stem finish, which works up, and a large, flat root finish, which works down. Different kinds of bulbs, extra like brown lumps, might must be examined extra carefully.

“You might be able to see little dots the place the roots had been hooked up, and the foundation finish tends to be just a little flat,” she mentioned. “That’s the top that goes down.”

Don’t fertilize. The bulb already accommodates new crops and their meals. “If the soil has loads of natural matter, the soil microorganisms will use it to supply all the additional vitamins the crops want,” White mentioned.

The soil of The Grand Backyard was enriched with ample compost and can be top-dressed with shredded leaves to supply a gentle provide of natural matter yearly.

Water and mulch. A mulch layer will insulate the bulbs towards their largest hazard: Popping out of dormancy too early and sprouting throughout transient winter heat spells. The Arboretum makes use of shredded leaves for mulch in all its perennial plantings, together with bulbs.

Tiny twinkly glory-of-the-snow is likely one of the bulbs being planted this fall for spring bloom in The Morton Arboretum’s new Grand Backyard. (Beth Botts)

When selecting bulbs, particularly these that can bloom 12 months after 12 months in the correct website, it’s essential to think about the opposite crops that can be rising close by.

In The Grand Backyard, “the bulb layer can be blended in with the perennial layer, so when the bulbs have completed blooming there received’t be a mattress of foliage that’s inexperienced and turning yellow,” White mentioned. “Because the perennials come up and fill in, they are going to camouflage the bulb foliage.”

The foliage of crops akin to daffodils have to be left in place for a number of weeks after they bloom so the crops can gather daylight to energy their building of latest bulbs with subsequent 12 months’s flowers. That’s why many gardeners plant daffodils amongst daylilies, which have related strappy leaves, or hostas, whose massive leaves will cover the daffodil foliage.

The bulbs being planted within the new backyard embrace the early spring bloomers white squill (Scilla mischtschenkoana ‘Tubergeniana’) and glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae). A dwarf daffodil (Narcissus ‘Minnow’) will bloom subsequent, after which tall blue nice quamash (Cammassia leichtlinii).

Summer season bulbs are additionally being planted this autumn: alliums, lilies, and shock lilies (Lycoris squamigera), which pop up with pink blooms in August.

Tulips can be used solely within the plantings of colourful annual flowers within the backyard’s central plaza. “We deal with tulips as annuals as a result of they don’t rebloom reliably within the Chicago space,” White mentioned.

Selecting and planting bulbs in fall is an effective option to finish the gardening 12 months, in response to White. “The payoff can be value it,” she mentioned. “The anticipation over the winter will get you much more excited to see the crops in spring.”

For tree and plant recommendation, contact the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum (630-719-2424, mortonarb.org/plant-clinic, or plantclinic@mortonarb.org). Beth Botts is a workers author on the Arboretum.