Naturalizing: Plants gone wild

Naturalizing is just a gardening term (and a rather sensible one, actually) to describe bulbs usually planted in large informal drifts, where they remain undisturbed and multiply. You can naturalize in a grassy area, under fruit trees or other deciduous trees, at the edge of a wooded area, or on an embankment. You want a semiwild area, because the bulb foliage should be able to die down undisturbed after the plants finish blooming. Over time, the bulbs tend to increase their numbers, spreading out the show with each passing year, with virtually no effort from you.
To begin, invest in a large amount of good-quality bulbs. On planting day, literally toss them out over the chosen area and plant them where they land. This display ends up looking more spontaneous and, well, natural.

Planting Bulbs in Containers

Growing bulbs in containers handily solves every display problem. Individual plants can get exactly the sort of soil and planting depth they prefer. When the bulbs come into bloom, you can place them front and center on your porch or patio or even tuck them into a flowerbed and enjoy them at their peak. You can turn or elevate the container to show off the flowers to best advantage. And when the blooms and foliage begin to fade away, you can move the plants out of sight and replace them with pots of fresh reinforcements. Something about a potful of blooming bulbs is so immediate and perky.
They’re right before your very eyes, cheerily delivering their jolt of color. You can line your front steps with them or place a pot in the middle of the patio table, like a living bouquet.
Pots dry out faster than garden-bed soil. Keep your potted bulbs watered. Consistent water (that is, every day or two instead only when the plants are gasping) leads to a healthier, longer-lasting show. Also, if you’re in a cold climate, be sure to pot your bulbs in containers that can freeze without breaking, like plastic.
One drawback: In most climates, bulbs grown in containers are spent after one blooming cycle. If you enjoyed them, you have to start over next year with fresh new bulbs, unless the pot is large enough for the bulbs to go through their dormancy and remain in good health.

Planting Bulbs in Flowerbeds

Flowering bulbs are very happy in prepared flowerbeds. They receive the good, loose soil they relish and the elbow room they need. Here are two good approaches:

• Bedding schemes: Perhaps you’ve seen these beds in public display gardens: broad areas devoted to nothing but, say, tulips. The mass of color can be very impressive. You can prepare these flowerbeds at home. Pick a nice, open spot, choose a large amount of the same or very similar bulbs (in terms of color, height, and/or bloom time), and plant them fairly close together.
• Mixed beds: Bulbs are only part of the show in a mixed bed; they can share the stage with early-blooming perennials, some colorful annuals, and perhaps a few sheltering shrubs. The overall show never declines: Whether you’re waiting for the bulbs to burst into bloom or waiting for their fading foliage to die down, you always have something to look at and enjoy.