by Avery Beadle | Jan 11, 2024 | How-To, Hyacinths, Learn, Planting, Planting & Care, Southern States, Specialty, Tulips
Note: This article is intended only for people in warm climates (Zones 7B–8B in the South and Southwest, and most of California). In its broad outlines, the prechilling process is as easy as 1-2-3. Order your bulbs by the end of September and request delivery in...
by Avery Beadle | Jan 8, 2024 | After-Bloom Care, Amaryllises, How-To, Learn, Planting
Potting an amaryllis is easy. You will find instructions in our article How to Pot an Amaryllis Bulb. Caring for an amaryllis is also easy. To bring a bulb into bloom, all you need to provide is light and water. Sunlight Amaryllises, like all plants, need light. After...
by Avery Beadle | Jan 8, 2024 | After-Bloom Care, Amaryllises, How-To, Learn, Planting
Many people discard amaryllis bulbs after they bloom, but it’s possible—without too much effort—to get a bulb to flower again the following winter. You will note that after a bulb finishes blooming, it has shrunk to a fraction of its original size. Producing those...
by Maggie Badore | Jun 8, 2023 | Daffodils, How-To, Learn, Planting, Tulips
Planting tulip bulbs might seem like a daunting chore, especially if you’re looking to grow a dense or large bed of spring flowers with hundreds of blooms. But don’t worry; you don’t have to dig an individual hole for every flower you want to plant. In this article,...
by Maggie Badore | Jun 8, 2023 | About Bulbs, How-To, Learn, Planting, Planting & Care, Specialty, Tulips
Squirrels can be a major challenge in the garden, because they often view a freshly planted bed of bulbs as an all-you-can-eat buffet. Tulips are a favorite of these bushy-tailed rodents, along with crocuses and lilies. If there are squirrels in your area, it’s best...
by Maggie Badore | Mar 21, 2023 | About Bulbs, How-To, Learn, Planting, Planting & Care
There are three main approaches to getting bulbs in the ground in the fall: Poke, drill, or trench. Determining the best approach for you will depend on several different factors: You’ll want to consider how many bulbs you’re planting, your garden’s layout, and your...
by Maggie Badore | Mar 3, 2023 | About Bulbs, Daffodils, Learn, Our Bulb Growers
If you search for “King Alfred Daffodils” online, you’ll quickly be scrolling through dozens of retailers offering big, bright yellow flowers named after King Alfred the Great, a 9th century Anglo-Saxon ruler. However, many flower enthusiasts might be surprised...
by Avery Beadle | Aug 31, 2022 | Learn
Winter cold is essential to the life cycle of bulbs. Bulbs begin to grow roots in the weeks after fall planting, prompted by the cooling soil. Then, preparation for winter begins, as some of the stored energy in the bulb changes into an “antifreeze” that protects it...
by Avery Beadle | Aug 11, 2022 | Learn
You’ve got your bulbs. Now what? Now it’s time to plant. Each item page lists the planting instructions, or you can refer to the Planting and Care Instructions that are placed in every order shipped. Whether you have misplaced yours or prefer digital, you...
by Avery Beadle | May 27, 2022 | Learn
1. The Black Tulip There are no black tulips, though a few varieties come pretty close. They look black on a cloudy day, but with the sun behind them they show their true color: eggplant. We carry Queen of Night. It adds depth to bright colors. 2. Pink-Cupped...
by Avery Beadle | May 27, 2022 | Learn
When tulips start to bloom in the fields, Dutch bulb growers do their best to cut off the flowers as quickly as possible. That’s because the flowers take energy from the bulbs below, preventing them from growing to top size. A grower lets his fields bloom just long...
by Avery Beadle | May 27, 2022 | Learn
The poet William Wordsworth once wrote of daffodils “dancing in the breeze,” and Shakespeare before him described “daffodils that… take the winds of March with beauty.” Biomechanists have determined that daffodils dance by design. In a paper entitled “Reorientation of...
by Avery Beadle | Jun 7, 2021 | Learn
Bulbs 101 – The Short Course At Colorblends, we want you to have a great spring display. But let’s face it – planting is hard work. We suggest you order in small bites to learn what it takes to get bulbs planted in the fall. If you like the result in the...
by Avery Beadle | Jun 5, 2021 | Learn
This map shows the ideal fall planting windows for the United States. Please note the following: Bulbs that flower in spring must be planted in fall. There is no getting around this requirement. Bulbs should be planted when the soil has cooled to about 55°F. Bulbs...
by Avery Beadle | Jun 4, 2021 | Learn
The big day is here. Your bulbs have arrived. Now what? If the driver left the delivery in an exposed location, move the packages out of the weather—into a garage or carport, into the basement, into the house. Next, open all of the boxes or crates and remove the bags...
by Avery Beadle | Jun 3, 2021 | Learn
There are two key considerations when choosing a site for bulbs: Sunlight. Most bulbs need ample sunshine to bloom well the first spring after planting and to store up the energy required to flower in future springs. The bulbs listed on our Shade Tolerant Bulbs page...
by Avery Beadle | Jun 2, 2021 | Learn
There are two principal ways of planting bulbs. Planting a bed. Excavate the area to be planted and loosen the soil in the bottom. Set the bulbs in the bed. Replace the soil (gently at first, to avoid knocking the bulbs out of position). If the soil is dry, water...
by Avery Beadle | Jun 1, 2021 | Learn
Bulbs need ample moisture from fall, when they make new roots, until they finish flowering in spring. If the soil is dry at planting time, water thoroughly after planting. Thereafter water only if rainfall is scarce. Stop watering after the bulbs bloom. Supplemental...
by Avery Beadle | May 31, 2021 | Learn
To answer this question, you need to: Determine the square footage of the area you are planting. See the formulas provided below. Determine the number of bulbs to plant per square foot (the density). We provide a recommended planting density for every item on this...
by Avery Beadle | May 31, 2021 | Learn
Most spring-flowering bulbs require no special attention after bloom. If you find the spent flowers unsightly, you can remove them. In the case of tulips, especially perennial tulips, removing the flowers as soon as they fade may also help to encourage the bulbs to...
by Avery Beadle | May 31, 2021 | Learn
Planting an amaryllis bulb in a pot is easy. All you need is a bulb, potting mix, and a container with a drainage hole in the bottom. To protect furniture and windowsills from scratches and water stains, you will also need a saucer, and perhaps a coaster, too. ...
by Avery Beadle | May 30, 2021 | Learn
Most bulbs do well through Zone 7a in the South. In Zones 7b–10, where soil temperatures do not cool down sufficiently in winter, and spring weather is often very warm, many bulbs perform poorly unless they are prechilled—i.e., refrigerated for 6–12 weeks prior to...
by Avery Beadle | May 29, 2021 | Learn
What is meant by “prechilling”? Most spring-flowering bulbs, including tulips and hyacinths, need a prolonged period of cold temperatures to grow and bloom properly. In much of the United States, this cold period is provided naturally by a winter spent in the ground....
by Avery Beadle | Feb 8, 2021 | Learn
Most people associate tulips with Holland, but they didn’t originate there. Some species are indigenous to Turkey, where they have been cultivated and venerated for centuries, but the majority hail from the forbidding mountainous regions of Central Asia, where they...
by Avery Beadle | Feb 4, 2021 | Learn
Contrary to popular belief, tulips are not native to the Netherlands. So why are 99% of the world’s tulip bulbs grown there? The answer comes down to wealth, weather, and work. Tulips made their way west from the mountainous regions of Central Asia, via the Silk Road,...
by Avery Beadle | Feb 1, 2021 | Learn
Deer are a fact of life in many suburbs and rural areas. They sometimes even find their way into urban neighborhoods. Expending the time, money, and energy to put plants in the ground, only to step outside one morning and find that the deer have eaten them to the...
by Christian Curless | Jul 17, 2019 | Learn
Tulips are among the most iconic of flowers. Everyone recognizes the classic goblet shape. Artists and graphic designers make liberal use of it—abstract, literal and romanticized in drawings, paintings, wallpaper patterns and advertisements. When you make a point of...
by Christian Curless | Jul 11, 2019 | Learn
Many daffodils have the ability to grow and flower well for several years. As time passes, though, you may decide that a planting needs to be moved to another part of the garden or landscape. Even if a daffodil doesn’t need to be moved, you may determine that...
by Christian Curless | Jun 6, 2018 | Learn
Tulips are not good perennials. They flower lavishly the first spring after planting, but in subsequent springs, flowering is generally sparse and uneven. To ensure a great display every year, many gardeners and landscape contractors treat tulips as annuals, lifting...
by gravoc | Jun 4, 2018 | Learn
It’s a Common Frustration: You buy tulip bulbs, plant them in the fall, and enjoy a great display in the spring. But the following spring, all you get is a smattering of flowers and maybe a bunch of leaves. “What happened? ” you ask yourself. “Aren’t tulips...
by Avery Beadle | May 17, 2018 | Learn
In the flowerbulb world, bigger is better. That’s because large bulbs produce more or larger flowers than small bulbs. When purchasing bulbs, always ask what size bulb you are getting. Colorblends only delivers size 12cm circumference tulip bulbs or larger. The...
by Avery Beadle | Apr 17, 2018 | Learn
Spring-flowering bulbs have a growth cycle that sets them apart from most other plants. They make roots in the fall, bide their time through winter, emerge and bloom in spring, and go completely dormant in early summer. During their brief period above ground, the...
by Avery Beadle | Apr 17, 2018 | Learn
You have a favorite tulip. The color is superb, and the shape and proportions fit your notion of the tulip ideal. You order it every year, and every spring drivers stop in front of the house to take pictures. And then one summer you check the Colorblends website and...
by Avery Beadle | Apr 16, 2018 | Learn
by Avery Beadle | Mar 17, 2018 | Learn
We will ship no flowerbulb before its time Fingerspitzengefühl is a German expression that means having a feeling about how something has to be done. Dutch bulb growers use this expression to decide when flowerbulbs are ready to be harvested and shipped. You cannot...
