Below is our small selection of our favourite bulbs which will be available in the autumn of this year. These span a variety of species and families but share a common trait – they are gorgeous and easy to grow.
Anemones
Anemones are impressively long lasting in arrangements, making them a florist favourite. Give them a semi-shaded location with moist, well-drained soil, and they’ll give you a spectacular show for weeks on end!
This award-winning Grecian Windflower creates lovely mounds of daisy-like flowers (2” across) over a finely cut fernlike foliage in mid spring and spreads to form a carpet of blooms. Extremely popular due to its early and massive flowering and ability to naturalize easily. Corms will multiply and continue to appear in spring for years and years to come. Plant in sun or part shade. 4-6”
20 / $7.50
The astonishing rainbow of ornate, double-flowering anemone blossoms featured in the St. Brigid mix will bring bright cheer to the spring garden. Deer resistant. Good cut flower. 10-12″.
10 / $6.50
This anemone boasts satiny, violet-blue, poppy-like flowers adorned with a dark button center. Blooming in mid to late spring, they usually last up to 4 weeks. Borne atop sturdy stems above clumps of finely divided, ferny leaves, they attract butterflies and make wonderful cut flowers. They thrive in the sunny garden where their broad, bright faces are highly appealing. Perfect for beds, rockeries or containers, and an absolute must for the cutting garden. 8-10”.
10 / $5.00
Anemone coronaria De Caen Gem Mix offers a mix of colours blooming in mid to late spring. The De Caen cultivars were bred in the regions of Caen and Bayeux, France in the 18th century. Terrific in the garden, in containers and in the vase! 10″
10 / $5.00
Sylphide features velvety, bright, violet-pink, poppy-like blooms adorned with a powdery dome of black stamens at their center. Blooming mid-late spring, this Mona Lisa cultivar is quite prolific, with up to 18 blooms per plant! Borne atop sturdy stems above clumps of finely divided, ferny leaves, they attract butterflies and make wonderful cut flowers. They thrive in the sunny garden where their broad, bright faces are highly appealing. Perfect for beds, rockeries or containers, and an absolute must for the cutting garden. 18-24”.
10 / $5.00
This may be the dreamiest Anemone variety we know! Luxurious, velvety, iridescent petals form a rich, dark plum cup adorned with a vibrant purple eye and powdery dome of black stamens. Excellent cut flower. Full sun- light shade. 8-12″
5 / $7.00
Beautiful large, ivory white flowers up to 4” across open in late spring- early summer to reveal their dark, purple hearts. ‘Carmel White’ is new to the market and is prized for its large, single white blooms with striking dark centres. Borne atop sturdy stems above clumps of finely divided, ferny leaves, they attract butterflies and make wonderful cut flowers. They thrive in the sunny garden where their bright faces are highly appealing. Perfect for beds, rockeries or containers, and an absolute must for the cutting garden. 16”.
5 / $7.00
This big-bloomer won’t disappoint- the long-lasting blooms are a favorite of florists with their multi-layered petals that are bright, cheerful and yet elegant. This varietal is a good pollinator attractor, and while they do best in full sun, they will tolerate some shade. 16”
5 / $5.50
Camas
A member of the asparagus family, Camassia is a genus that is exclusively indigenous to North America. This was and remains a common food for many Indigenous peoples such as the Coast Salish, Kutenai, Blackfoot, Cree, and Nimíipuu, among many others. On Vancouver Island, blue camas was cultivated by controlled burns in the Garry Oak meadows. While white camas is commonly thought to be poisonous, it turns out that the infamous ‘Deathcamas’ is actually a name used for a number of species in entirely different families, mostly the family Melanthieae. Here, only the blue camas was traditionally harvested, and we recommend that you do your own research before sampling the white varietal of Camassia leichtlinii, as this remains an under-researched topic.
Known as Common, Meadow, or Small Camas. PNW Native. Naturalizes easily. Deer resistant. Pollinator friendly. 15″.
10 / $8.50
Also Indigenous to the PNW, but is taller than the common Camas. Naturalizes easily. Deer resistant. Pollinator friendly. 30″
3/$9.50
This is the rare form of Camas, and its edibility is unclear and under-researched, but it makes up for it with the gorgeous spires of white star-shaped blooms. Deer resistant. Pollinator friendly. 44″
3 / $8.50
Other Garden Accents
These beauties are often unique and under-represented in the home garden, despite their beauty and interest.
Double Snowdrops. Robust and incredibly attractive, this double snowdrop produces dainty, nodding white flowers, delicately marked with a green spot at the apex of each petal. The slightly fragrant, fluffy blooms arise atop foliage of narrow, greenish-gray leaves. Deer resistant. Fragrant. Rabbit Resistant. RHS AGM Winner. 6-8”.
5 / $6.50
These are the monsters of the snowdrop world, reaching up to 7″ in height. Naturalizes slowly. Deer resistant. Rabbit resistant. 7″.
5 / $4.50
One of the earliest and loveliest spring flowering bulbs Chionodoxa forbesii, aka ‘Glory of the Snow’ because it blooms so early, naturalizes well, both in the garden and in lawns, and will increase freely over the years. Each bulb can produce up to 8 blooms. 4-8”
20 / $7.50
One of the earliest and loveliest spring flowering bulbs Chionodoxa alba aka ‘Glory of the Snow’ because it blooms so early, naturalizes well, both in the garden and in lawns, and will increase freely over the years. 4-8”
20 / $7.50
Wonderfully fragrant, deep purple-blue towers of blooms. Mid spring 8-10”
3 / $5.50
Remarkable for its dark plum colouring with hints of burgundy, and dark stems adding to the drama, this unusual variety is a real standout in the garden. Sometimes referred to as a ‘giant’ hyacinth because the florets are more densely packed than it’s more demure sisters. With its alluring scent, plant it where you’ll be able to enjoy its perfume daily, or cut it for the vase. Blooms for 2-3 weeks in mid spring 8-10”
3 / $5.50
This award-winning, demure woodlander features deep pink tubular blooms with flashes of white on its spurs. As they mature, they shift to a paler shade of pink. Commonly known as Fumewort or Bird in a Bush, C. solida is a bee-loved tuberous root native from the Balkans to Scandinavia. Its name translates from Latin as Crested Lark, for its floral spurs. Blooming profusely in mid-late spring, flowers sit proudly above the handsome, fern-like foliage of blue-green divided leaves. Commonly grown in sun-dappled woodlands, this deer-proof charmer is tolerant of a bit more moisture than most bulbs, and requires rich, well-draining soil in filtered sunlight to partial shade. It is ridiculously easy to grow, and is perfect for borders, rockeries or woodland areas. Summer dormant. 6-10” tall and wide. Spring ephemeral.
5 / $6.50
Also known as “Summer Snowflake”, these beauties actually appear in mid-spring, looking like a cross between a bluebell and a snowdrop with a delicate spot of green at the ends of their petals. Deer resistant. 24″.
5 / $7.50
Spectacular in full bloom, Foxtail Lilies are a breathtaking perennial with huge flower spikes bearing up to 800 tiny flowers, the petals a pale peachy-pink, eventually bleaching to white. Soaring from a rosette of bluish-green strap-shaped leaves from early-mid summer, each graceful flower spike gradually opens from the bottom upwards for a long -lasting display (3 weeks or more). Rising high on imposing stalks, this Foxtail Lily adds drama and stunning vertical lines in the garden. Grows 5-10’ tall with a spread of 2-3’. Naturalizing well, and coming back year after year, they thrive in full sun, and rich, well-drained soil. Virtually pest and disease resistant, they attract butterflies and hummers, but are deer and critter resistant.
$8.50 ea.
Dramatic and unusual, this Foxtail Lily’s stately spires are bejeweled with tangerine blooms. They require rich soil with excellent drainage, and sun that reaches the foliage while in growth and bakes the roots when plants go dormant after flowering. But you will be rewarded with stunning spires of blooms, especially impressive when planted against tall evergreens or at the back of a perennial border. They make excellent, long lasting, cut flowers for those special summer arrangements. The roots are octopus-shaped and fragile and do not like to be disturbed after planting. 48”.
$8.50 ea.
Charming, nodding, violet-pink blooms with swept-back petals resemble small shooting stars. With the delightful foliage, copiously marbled with purple-brown, this mid-spring bloomer is lovely in groups under deciduous trees, in rock gardens or near pond or streams where it will happily multiply. For best results grow in moist soil in a shady spot, and mulch annually with leaf mould. Mid-spring. 6-10”
3 / $11.50
This award-winning Fawn Lily boasts up to 10 graceful blooms per stem, opening creamy and maturing to pure white. The 2” nodding blooms reveal glowing chartreuse-yellow centers, each petal etched with cinnamon-red markings around the creamy anthers. With rich green leaves, softly mottled with brown and white, this woodlander likes moisture, and will multiply happily in a shady spot, and appreciate an annual mulch with leaf mould. Mid-spring. 8”
3 / $11.50
Similar to more common scillas, these boast larger clusters of pale blue-white flowers with a deeper stripe of blue on the outside of the bell. Fragrant. Deer resistant. 6″.
20 / $5.50
Silver Shamrock is a bulbous perennial forming a dense clump of finely incised gray-green leaves made up of several heart-shaped leaflets. The demure white blooms, 1” across, are flushed with purple and adorned with lilac veins above the handsome foliage. Unlike its rowdier cousins, this Oxalis does not spread by underground rhizomes, but clumps only around the bulb. Late spring. 4”
5 / $6.50
Siberian Squill boasts intense blue, nodding flowers (2-5 per stem) in early to mid spring. Easy to grow, and very hardy, it’s a great naturalizer, as it multiplies and comes back year after year, turning the landscape into a sea of true blue. Looks best when planted in large drifts. 3-6”
10 / $5.50
Native to the Mediterranean area, award-winning Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus (Byzantine Gladiolus) features narrow sword-shaped leaves in a fan of 3-5 erect flowering spikes, each bearing up to 15 bold, magenta funnel-shaped flowers, 2” wide. This hardy, eye-catching beauty blooms late spring-early summer, grows 2-3’ tall, and gradually spreads to form clumps. Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, and makes a great cut flower. 24-36”
10 / $8.50
Martagons are classic woodland lilies with small, delicate, pendant flowers with recurved petals. This beauty boasts many different shades of yellow and orange with a golden orange centre and beguiling dark freckles. They resent disturbance, and sometimes take a year to recover from transplanting, and may or may not show any top growth the first season but once established they will thrive for decades. Great in a part shade or the woodland garden. 24-26″
$8.50 ea.