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 SUMMER BULBS
PACK A PUNCH
Plan for a vibrant container garden this year.
Exotic summer bulbs thrive in pots and offer a rich palette of sophisticated color and texture for the garden. Exceptionally good for containers, summer-blooming bulbs also mix well in perennial borders, adding dramatic color. Most summer-blooming bulbs are not winter hardy, but they can be lifted and saved for re-planting the following spring.
Acidanthera or Abyssinian Gladiolus
Tall Acidanthera has large, nodding, star-shaped white flowers with a mahogany eye and an appealing, sweet fragrance.
Amarcrinum
This amazingly fragrant summer bulb blooms late summer until the first frost. Each bulb produces clusters of up to 15 funnel-shaped shell-pink flowers atop two-foot stems. It does best in full sun and can handle partial shade.
Begonias
Voluptuous, velvety tuberous begonias are tops for shady sites. Indeed, they are one of the few brilliantly colored summer flowers to bloom all season long in deep shade or filtered sunlight. Superb in containers or planted with low-growing perennials, begonias offer large, dense, dramatic flowers with ruffled petals in rich shades of red, yellow, white, champagne, pink or orange.
Caladium
These lush foliage plants with large heart-shaped leaves in shades of green, white, rose or red generally grow one to three feet tall and perform best in areas with shade or partial shade.
Calla
These fabulous flowers were once available primarily in white or pink. Now they also come in flashy colors such as red, orange, yellow, rust, lavender, pale green, gold and near-black. Their funnel-shaped, velvety flowers and pleasing leaves make them attractive all summer long.
Canna
Use the broad upright leaves of tropical-looking canna as a vertical accent. Plant in full sun or partial shade. Dwarf and tall versions are available, with leaves in dashing shades of green, brown, burgundy, black and stripes. With leaves so dramatic, it almost seems superfluous, but cannas also produce flamboyant flowers, so you get double the bang for your buck.
Chinese Ground Orchid (Bletilla)
Incredible! Plant these little bulbs for charming orchid-like flowers in early summer. Each bulb produces up to 10 clusters of long-lasting magenta, white or pink flowers on small plants less than a foot tall. Plant several to a pot, or plot and place in full sun or light shade.
Dahlia
For full-tilt razzle-dazzle and a show from mid-summer through frost, dahlias are hard to beat. Look for varieties like Gallry, Topmix and Dahlianova for pots—they were especially bred for container use.
Elephant Ears (Colocasia esculenta)
With enormous, elongated heart-shaped leaves, these tropical plants can change the mood of any small setting. Different varieties offer different looks, with leaves of green, chartreuse, black or stripes, in heights ranging from one to six feet tall. They prefer shade or partial shade.
Lily
Lilies offer sizzling color midsummer. You love their trumpet-like blooms mixed into perennial borders, but did you also know that Oriental lilies excel in containers? For an 18-inch pot, plant five or six bulbs. Lilies do best in full sun or partial shade.
Oxalis
Known to many as shamrocks or wood sorrel, Oxalis are low-growing mounded plants known for their (three or) four-leaved foliage, and nodding flowers of white or pink. Count on Oxalis for intriguing foliage and dainty blooms late spring through fall. •
PHOTOS: Courtesy Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center
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