Hyacinths are one of the “big three” bulbs in gardening interest (the others being tulips and daffodils) and these extremely fragrant spring flowering bulbs are worthy of a place in your bulb garden. Carnegie is a pure white hyacinth with a deep penetrating fragrance. Reblooms for several years. As an aside, the name comes from Hyakinthos – a young man accidentally killed by one of the Greek gods and from his spilt blood, this flower emerged.
The Hyacinth, ‘Carnegie’ ‘Hyacinthus orientalis’, a fall planted bulb, is one of the few all-white Dutch hyacinths, and this plant is the perfect contrast to brightly colored bulbs. The small, pure white flowers are densely packed on intensely fragrant spikes. Grow them for their graceful shape, long-lasting blooms and sweet scent. Hyacinths are great for indoor forcing, containers, and borders. They flower in mid spring for a 3 - 4 week period.
Hyacinths require a well-drained soil. If they must be planted in heavy soil, mix some sand into the soil. For the best effects, plant the bulbs in clusters of 5 to 15 bulbs of one variety, or scatter clusters throughout the garden or flower border. Prepare the garden bed by using a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost. Dig a hole 6 to 8 inches deep. Set the bulb in the hole, pointy end up, then cover with soil and press firmly. Space bulbs 4 to 6 inches apart. Water thoroughly after planting.
When planted in somewhat shady spots, the flowers will last longer than they would in the hot sun. You have a decision to make here. If you grow them in the shadier sections of your garden, the individual blooms will last longer on the bulbs in the spring as the hot sun does tend to shorten the bloom time. The downside to this is that the bulb itself will not thrive in the shade and will die out. If you need flowers for a special spring event, mass plant them anywhere you like and treat this bulb as an annual flower.
You can easily propagate new plants by harvesting the little offsets that develop on the older bulbs. After the plant is fully dormant, (late summer) you can dig the bulb and separate these small offsets. It will take these small bulblets 2 to 3 years to develop enough size/strength to generate flowers. You can also grow them from seed treating the seed as a perennial.
Wear gloves to prevent skin irritation. These plants are deer, squirrel and rabbit resistant.
If you want to force the bulbs to flower out of season, then you need to use a technique called forcing. To do this, heat-treated hyacinth bulbs, which are more expensive than normal bulbs, need to be placed in a dark place for several weeks to allow flower buds to develop. To make a flowering bowl, start by planting three bulbs of the same colour in individual pots. Almost fill an 8cm (3in) pot with moist bulb fibre, and then push a bulb in gently to half its depth. Put pots in a cool, dark place, such as a garage or shed for about ten weeks to allow the roots to grow. Check bulbs regularly and water if the compost feels dry. When shoots appear, wait until they are about 5cm (2in) high and arrange the three pots in an 18cm (7in) bowl. Fill the gaps with more bulb fibre and place in a light spot to flower. Keep compost moist. After flowering, bulbs will be exhausted and are best thrown away - you could add them to your compost heap, but make sure you chop them up finely.

The Anemone family is a large one, but it is Anemone Coronaria, or poppy-flowered Anemone, which is the gem of the fall planting selection. The common name for these showy plants is Wind Flowers, which refers to their soft, breeze-fluttered blooms that add movement and life to gardens. With contrasting centers and single or double rows of petals, wind flowers look like diminutive cousins of always popular daisies and are every bit as charming. Deeply cut, ferny foliage provides a refined accent.
These fuss-free bulbs are excellent for heirloom gardens and restoration projects.
Anemone bulbs have really unique shape. The flat side is upper and the pointed side is lower. Anemone Coronaria is an excellent subject for container gardening and is a reliable performer. These bulbs are great in flower borders as well. They are an excellent cut flower. De Caen anemones are also a good choice for a butterfly garden.
The best planting season is autumn. However, some species are not hardy for the cold climate. If you grow such spieces in the area, where the temperature reaches below 0F/-18C, plant them in spring. Anemones grow from tubers and must be planted round side down, about 2″ to 3″ deep. The rule of thumb for most bulbs and tubers is to plant them twice as deep as they are wide.
If you plant hard-dried bulbs in soil and let them absorb water abruptly, they get cracks on the surface, which may cause infection or getting mold. Therefore, pre-treatment is required. Before you head out to the garden to plant, soak your anemone bulbs for 2-4 hours in a cup or small bowl of water. This will encourage them to sprout faster and get growing.
Find a location where the soil drains well. If there are still water puddles 5-6 hours after a hard rain, scout out another site. Or amend the soil with the addition of organic material to raise the level 2-3 inches to improve the drainage. Peat moss, compost, ground bark or decomposed manure all work well and are widely available. Site your anemones where they will receive sun for all, or most, of the day. Dig holes and plant the anemones. Don’t worry about which side of the bulb needs to face up. After planting, water anemones well, thoroughly soaking the area. Roots will form in the autumn, followed shortly by the foliage. Flowers will develop in the spring.

Daffodils, the flowers symbolising friendship, are one of the most popular flowers exclusively due to their unmatched beauty. Daffodils belong to the genus Narcissus. Sometimes the word Narcissus is used for them. Narcissus is the Latin or botanical name for all daffodils, just as ilex is for hollies. Daffodil is the common name for all members of the genus Narcissus. Put another way, Narcissus is the botanic name for a genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbs in the Amaryllis family native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. There are also several Narcissus species that bloom in the autumn.
The name Narcissus is derived from that of the youth of Greek mythology called Narcissus, who, in at least one of many variations of the tale, became so obsessed with his own reflection as he kneeled and gazed into a pool of water that he fell into the water and drowned. The legend continues that the Narcissus plant first sprang from where he died.
There are a great variety of daffodils avaialable, so how many are there actually ? Botanists differ, but there are at least 25 species, some with a great many different forms, and several natural hybrids. In addition to the species, the current printout of the Daffodil Data Bank lists over 13,000 hybrids which are divided among the twelve divisions of the official classification.
Daffodil flowers have a trumpet-shaped structure surrounded by a ring of six floral leaves called the periant set against a star-shaped background. Often the trumpet is in a contrasting color from the background. Though the traditional daffodil of folklore, poetry, and field may have a yellow to golden-yellow color all over, both in the wild species and due to breeding, the perianth and corona may be variously colored. Breeders have developed some daffodils with double, triple, or ambiguously multiple rows and layers of segments, and several wild species also have known double variants.
Daffodils are constantly recurring flowers. Where climate is moderate, Daffodils flourish among the first spring buds. In the United States, Daffodils are quite tolerant of cold, especially with a covering of snow, and are grown to the Canadian border. The only exceptions are a few tender cultivars, usually tazettas, such as the popular Paper White. Daffodils can also be grown throughout the South with the exception of parts of Florida which are free of frost. A cold treatment—natural or induced—is needed for flower bud initiation.
Daffodils grow well in zones 3-8, and need at least half a day of sun. They are not particular about soil type or pH. Most grow to a height of 10-18 inches.
* Plant in the fall before the ground freezes, but late enough that the bulb will not begin to grow.
* When deciding where to plant, remember that their little faces will follow the sun.
* Dig a hole three times as deep as the bulb is wide.
* Cover the bulbs with soil and tap down to remove air pockets.
* Don’t fertilize when planting. A little bone meal in the spring is all they will need.
Depth, as a general rule, needs to be thrice the height. This means large bulbs should have depth of 6 to 8 inches, medium size 3-6 inches and smaller size 2-3 inches. Always remember that the load of soil prove helpful to protect the bulbs from breaking too easily and keep them upright for a longer duration. If this fact is ignored and enough depth is not given then the Daffodil will bend down very soon. Though Daffodil blooms will come in bigger clumps, the bulbs and flowers will be scant.

When To Plant:

Fall is the best time to plant spring flowering bulbs, however there are
some slight differences depending on where you live. In the North and
mid-sections of the US, flower bulbs should be planted between September and
November, either in the shade or full sunlight. Southern regions should
plant them in the shade between October and January. However, bulbs can be
planted even after frost is in the ground, provided that the soil is easily
cultivated.

How Deep to Plant:

This depends on the size of bulb you are planting. The general rule of thumb
is to plant the bulbs twice as deep as their height. This means that tulips
and daffodils are generally planted 6″ deep, muscari and crocus about 4″
deep. Planting depth is from the top of the bulb (pointed end up!)

How Far Apart Should They Be Spaced:

Smaller bulbs should be planted fairly close together, roughly 4″ apart;
larger bulbs should have approximately 5″ separating them. But this rule was
meant to be broken. If you wish to create a bolder splash of color, you can
plant them even closer, to the point where your bulbs are almost touching.

What Kind Of Soil:

Flower bulbs thrive in well drained soil, and left to grow and naturalize.
They prefer some organic material or compost mixed in with the soil. Make
sure the soil is cultivated beneath the bulbs to ensure good root growth.
Bulbs can be planted in pots as well, as long as they contain free-draining
soil or compost. Bulbs do best if dug up and divided every three years or so
after the foliage has died.

What After-Care is Needed:

After the bulbs have been planted, water the soil well. If you live in an
area subject to severe frosts, give them extra protection by covering them
with straw or mulch. Because flower bulbs create reserves of food, the
fading of the first year’s bloom does not mean flowering has ended. Many
will re-appear the following spring, especially if you add a little bulb
booster, bone meal or fertilizer when the flowers begin to fade.

Indoor Forcing:

Flower bulbs that you wish to bloom inside the house can be planted in
earthenware, glass or plastic pots. Be sure that the pot is at least four
inches deep, and has a drainage hole. A medium potting soil is ideal.
Partially fill the pots with soil, then place the bulbs lightly into the
soil. They may be allowed to almost touch each other. With tulips, arrange
so that the flat side of the bulbs faces the pot. Continue to fill the pot
with soil so that the ‘noses’ of the bulbs are just covered. Sprinkle
generously with water to encourage rooting. To obtain suitable results, it
is absolutely necessary that the bulbs spend the indicated time (see chart)
in a cold environment. Preferably this should also be dark, although this
factor is not critical. If you do not have a cool room available, the pots
can be buried in the ground for the indicated period of time - provided that
it’s not too wet. If you don’t provide with a sufficiently long cold period,
the stems will be short, too long and the stems will appear leggy. After the
cold period is over, you should put the bulbs in a warm room. It will be
another 2 to 4 weeks before the flowers will be in full bloom. The smaller
bulbs, such as crocus, find room temperature too warm, so find them a spot
in a cool hallway or basement.

Variety Cold Period
Hyacinths 10 to 12 weeks
Tulips 13 to 15 weeks
Daffodils 13 to 16 weeks
Crocus 14 weeks
Iris 13 to 15 weeks
Grape Hyacinths 14 to 15 weeks

Question: How do I keep the squirrels from digging up and eating my newly
planted bulbs ?

Answer: Squirrels consider tulip bulbs to be the equivalent of candy. There
are several things you can try, but if there are a lot of squirrels where
you live it may be better to plant daffodils instead. You can try:
1. dipping the bulbs in a mole and rodent repellent just prior to planting;
2. applying a repellent spray to the mulch over the planting area;
3. watering the area repeatedly immediately after planting to settle the soil well;
4. covering the area with wire mesh or old window screens to cage them out;
5. or encase the bulbs in wire mesh cages before burying them;
6. you can add a moth ball to each planting hole just below the soil line. The moth ball will mask the scent of the tulip bulb and keep the squirrels away..