Below is our small selection of our favourite bulbs which will be available for purchase as bulbs 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.
Note: Sometimes we also have these varieties available in pots in the spring season, but their availability will be limited to what is still left in stock.
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!
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″.
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”.
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”
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
Other Garden Accents
These beauties are often unique and under-represented in the home garden, despite their beauty and interest.
One of the ‘giant’ snowdrops, ‘Mount Everest’, features lovely, large, 1” blooms and wide, strappy leaves. The giant snowdrops (usually twice the height of most snowdrops) are the first to bloom, a few weeks before the common snowdrops. Mount Everest is a fast-growing, strong variety perfect for naturalizing in woodland shade. 8-10”
5 / $4.50
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 / $6.00
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 / $7.50
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″.
3 / $7.50
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 / $6.00
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″.
Special Bulk Pricing: 20 / $5.50
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