Fresh plants and flowers start to fill the tables at our Garden Centers in Spring, but don’t forget to take a walk inside to browse our gorgeous range of Summer-blooming bulbs available NOW!
Some of the most popular and beautiful Summer-blooming plants can be hard to come by during their showiest season… that’s because they are best planted as bulbs or tubers during early Spring. Just as Fall bulbs must be planted in advance for a dazzling Spring display, Summer-blooming bulbs like Dahlias, Lilies, and Gladiolus also must be planted while dormant. This ensures they establish strong roots and thrive at their peak in Summer!
Plus, you’ll find the best selection of these flowers when they’re dormant—potted options are often limited to varieties that only fit in smaller containers.
Tips for Selecting Summer-Blooming Bulbs
When buying Summer bulbs, take a moment to consider the height and color of each variety and how they’ll play off your existing planting scheme. But don’t feel boxed in—sometimes a bold grouping of Gladiolas in an unexpected hue is exactly the exclamation point a planting bed needs!
The best part? Our favorite Summer-blooming bulbs pull double duty as absolutely spectacular cut flowers. Tuck them into your existing garden beds for a seamless look, or dedicate a whole patch to a cutting garden you can harvest all season long. There is simply nothing like stepping outside to snip a flamboyant Dahlia bloom or a fragrant Lily stem for your own backyard bouquet.
Dahlias
These classic and showy plants have grown immensely in popularity thanks to new breeding that has made a wide range of trendy colors and new forms available to the home gardener.
Dahlias typically have multiple petals that can be spikey or rounded and make full, large blooms. The more you cut Dahlia blooms, the better they perform. Plants range from 2 feet high up to 5-6 feet and bloom beginning in August through to the first frost. Tubers can be left in the ground or lifted to overwinter in drier conditions.
Gladiolus
The spear-like foliage of gladiolas emerges directly from the little puck-like corms in the ground and produces a tower of cup-shaped blooms.
Colorful, rainbow-hued varieties might be more of what has been seen traditionally, but we think the newer green options and rich burgundy tones are perfectly suited to more modern aesthetics. Reaching 2 to 4 feet in height, Gladiolas bloom beginning in June and July, depending on the variety.
Lilies
Lilies produce tall, strong stalks of dramatic blooms that emerge each Spring from their scaly bulbs and as they age the plants get larger and bloomier.
The only fragrant option of the Summer-blooming bulbs, an Oriental Lily will have large flowers with a sweet, intense musk, while a Tiger Lily boasts incurved petals and is fragrance-free, as is the shorter Asiatic Lily. Colors range from white to near-black, with orange, coral, and pink tones in between. Straight colors come 2–8 bulbs per package; pre-selected mixes include more bulbs per package. Consider weaving these colors through a bed, or planting all of them in a single clump.
Tips for Planting Summer-Blooming Bulbs
Plant when the soil can be worked and easily dug—soil shouldn’t be frozen solid or sopping wet when planting.
Follow the planting depths on packages. Keep in mind that Lilies tend to pull themselves down deeper into the soil over time, and Gladiolas are more likely to get pushed to the surface as they interact with other plant roots.
- Plant Dahlias 4-5 inches deep
- Plant Gladiolas 4 inches deep
- Plant Lilies 7 inches deep
Amend the soil with bone meal when planting—the phosphorous in the bone meal will ensure extra strong stems so the plants don’t flop over under the weight of their beautiful blooms.
Don’t be afraid to plant Lily bulbs tight alongside other plants—they do well when supported by other plants and look lovely coming up through Roses!
Gladiolas can be woven through a border or planted in a single clump—just be sure that if they are planted alone, they are deep enough not to get knocked over by winds or irrigation.
Dahlias love rich soil and regular water and should be mulched with a nice layer of compost or manure over the top. Keep them deadheaded to ensure a heavy production of blooms.
By buying and planting Summer-blooming bulbs now, you’ll be sure that you don’t miss out on the best selection of Dahlias, Lilies, and Gladiolas! Visit our Portland-area garden centers to pick up fresh bulbs, along with many more beautiful blooms and foliage for your garden!