Plan Your Garden by Bloom Time

Want to plan a bulb garden that blooms all season? It’s simple! When you plan your flower choices by bloom time, you can enjoy a non-stop flower display from early spring through late summer—just by using easy-to-care-for bulbs. What could be better? Planning your garden by bloom time is helpful both for brand new flower beds, and for filling the gaps in established flower gardens.

Breck’s bloom time charts (below) illustrate when each flower type blooms, and the sequence of blooms, for some of our most popular flower bulbs. Fall-planted, spring-blooming bulbs will bloom from late winter/early spring to early summer, and many of these are classic early spring flowers. Spring-planted, summer blooming bulbs will bloom from early summer to fall, and some can even extend colour into early autumn.

Spring Blooming Bulbs by Bloom Time

These bloom cycles are for general reference, as bloom time can vary depending on the weather in your area, as well as the cultivar of bulbs you plant.

Very Early Spring Blooms

As some of the earliest spring flowering bulbs, these flowers bridge the gap between winter and true spring.

• Snowdrops: Snowdrops, or Galanthus, are often the first spring flowers to appear in season—and they're a great choice for areas that stay cool a bit later in the year. These short-statured plants with small white blooms are incredibly hardy. Breck’s 3 Months of Giant Snowdrops Collection features 3 cultivars with staggering bloom times, offering an easy way to extend the Snowdrop bloom season in your garden.
• Crocus: The early-blooming varieties within the crocus genus produce small flowers with a longer blooming season than giant crocuses. They'll start blooming in late winter, and can flower in colours of pink, purple, yellow, white, or even blue, depending on variety.
• Miniature Daffodils: These compact daffodils are great in containers, in the garden, and for naturalizing in your yard. Their bright, sunny blooms are a welcome splash of sunlight early in the spring season. Mass planting miniature daffodil bulbs is a great way to achieve maximum impact in a high-visibility area.

A special note about Cyclamen types:

The beautiful butterfly-like blooms of Cyclamen plants are perfect for adding color and beauty to shady spots. The heart-shaped marbled leaves remain evergreen during the winter. Winter-Blooming Cyclamen (Cyclamen coum) blooms from late-winter to early spring. Hardy Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium) blooms in late summer. Fall-Blooming Hardy Cyclamen (Cyclamen cilicium) blooms from late summer to fall. Our 6 Months of Flowering Cyclamen collection includes all three types for blooms all season!

Early to Mid-Spring Blooms

These flowers are a celebration of peak spring season. Be sure to plant extras for your cutting garden!

• Tulips: Early-spring blooming tulips include wild and species tulips, which are great for naturalizing, and elegant early single, early double, and Emperor tulips with large, elegant blooms. Mid-season tulips, including Triumph and Darwin hybrid tulips, take over later.
• Grape Hyacinths: Blue muscari bulbs bloom a bit later, and a bit longer, than standard grape hyacinths. The unique colour of blue grape hyacinths really stands out among other mid-spring flowers, and their low habit—growing 6" to 8"—means they pair well with taller flowers.
• Grecian Windflowers: Grecian windflowers, a daisy-shaped species of anemone, bloom in shades of pink, blue, violet and white in early spring. These perennials make a nice, low-growing groundcover and pair well with other spring flowering bulbs like crocus and early tulips.
• Daffodils: After miniature daffodils, trumpet and large-cupped daffodils generally bloom next, with triandrus, double daffodils, split cup, and small cupped daffodils following. Tazetta and poeticus daffodil types are the latest to bloom. Many gardeners rely on daffodils as the backbone of their spring flowering bulbs because they naturalize easily and return each year with a reliable bloom time. Breck’s offers a wide range of daffodils, and we recommend planting several varieties in your landscape to enjoy their ongoing flowers. Grow Breck’s 3 Months Of Mixed Daffodils or 3 Months of Yellow Daffodils for a long-lasting mix!
• Hyacinths: Jewel-toned hyacinths are early blooming flowers that grow in dense spikes and are among the brightest colours you'll see in spring. Their lovely fragrance will perfume your entire yard.
• Fritillaria: This exceptionally showy group of flowers are sure to become your favorite. Whether you choose the dramatic Crown Imperial (Fritillaria imperialis), checker-patterned Guinea-Hen Flower (Fritillaria meleagris), honey-scented Michael’s Flower (Fritillaria michailovskyi), or all three, you can’t go wrong with these special blooms. Plus, they are all reliably deer resistant.

Late Spring into Summer Blooms

These flowers are often the perfect bridge between your spring-blooming bulb display and the start of peak perennial flowering season. Planting these alongside earlier bulbs extends the flower blooming season right up to the arrival of summer blooming bulbs.

• Spanish Bells: They are commonly referred to as wood hyacinth and provide a colorful expanse of pale blue or pink that you can plant just about anywhere – even in shady areas and beneath trees. They work well as stand-alone groupings or as part of a larger, mixed-bulb set. They are low maintenance and will multiply year after year to give your beds a lush, full look.
• Alliums: A tall, late-spring bloom, alliums feature a single "pom-pom" bloom per stem. These whimsical late spring flowers come in a surprising range of pink, purple, and white shades – even a rare sky blue hue. Growing on tall upright stems, they are a magnificent addition to a perennial garden, adding a unique form that will enhance and complement the surrounding plants.
• Bearded Iris: Bearded irises grow in a vast variety of colours, with varieties becoming available every season—including special varieties exclusively available from Breck’s! Bearded irises grow from rhizomes and come back year after year. Their huge, elegant blooms make them a great feature plant, or they can be mixed with other tall flowers for a garden with heightened style.

Unique Varieties: At Breck’s, you can find unique fall-planted bulbs for even more excitement to kick off the gardening season. Grow Early Snow Glories, Winter Aconite, or Dutch favorites such as the Star of Holland or Triteleia, Pineapple Lily, Gloriosa Lily, and more that are sure to bring joy and delight to your garden.

Shop All Fall-Planted Flower Bulbs

Summer & Fall Blooming Bulbs By Bloom Time

These bloom cycles are for general reference, as bloom time can vary depending on on the weather in your area, as well as the cultivar of bulbs you plant.

When combined with earlier spring flowering bulbs and mid-season perennials, these flowers complete a full blooming season, giving you something in bloom from the first thaw to fall frost.

Many spring-planted bulbs are tropical plants and require warm soil to grow. In colder climates, they may be treated as annuals, and/or started indoors to get a head start on growth before direct planting into the garden outside. Check the planting & care details on the product page for advice on how to care for these easy-to-grow bulbs.

• Freesia: Wondefully fragrant. Equally lovely lining walkways, flourishing in container gardens or cut flower arrangements, these flowers infuse both indoor and outdoor spaces with their charm. The wiry stems and grasslike leaves form a striking contrast to the exquisite funnel-shaped flowers.

• Asiatic Lilies: The earliest bloomers and easiest to care for of the lily family, featuring upward-facing, star-shaped blooms in bold, vivid colors. These plants act as a bridge between classic spring-flowering bulbs and true summer-blooming bulbs like gladiolus and dahlias.

• Gladiolus: Glads bloom just at that point of early summer when the weather turns tropical. These big and beautiful flower spikes work well when arranged in a variety of colours—bright dwarf glads are particularly popular for their full sized blooms on compact plants. Small Gladiolus corms are easy to tuck into the garden, and they can be planted in succession to help extend their bloom time in the garden.

• Lily Trees: A beautiful statement flower in your garden or landscape. Eye-catching Lily Trees deliver massive, upward-facing flowers with vivid color, fragrance, and exceptional dependability for 3+ weeks in midsummer.

• Begonias: Begonias are one of those quintessentially "summertime" flowers, ideal for shade gardens, patio plantings, window boxes, and other container garden applications. Try cascading begonias for the perfect hanging basket, or plant frilly double-blooming begonias to add texture to a bed. Begonias will bloom through fall until frost.

• Cannas: Cannas bloom in August or even September in some regions—making them excellent fillers for the late season garden. Their tall stems sprout vivid, tropical flowers, and their foliage is glossy, too. Cannas will bloom through fall until frost.

• Crocosmia: Fiery crocosmia flowers have a big impact in the garden. These red, orange, or yellow coloured blooms add a lovely pop of energy to beds or borders, and their presence won't go unnoticed by butterflies and hummingbirds! These are more cold-hardy than most spring-planted bulbs – check your growing zone to see if they can be winter-hardy in your zone.

• Oriental Lilies: These lilies are must-have for their perfume-like fragrance.

• Dahlias: From compact dahlias to show-stopping "dinnerplate" types, these high-impact flowers grow in a rainbow of colours and amazing patterns. Breck’s is your source for dozens of dahlia varieties – mix and match them for breathtaking bouquets from your cutting garden, too. Dahlias will bloom through the end of the season until frost.

Unique Varieties: At Breck’s, you can find unique varieties that can add eye-catching color and flower forms to your summer garden. Grow special flowers such as Tiger Flowers, Pineapple Lily, Gloriosa Lily, and more that are sure to bring joy and delight to your garden.

Shop All Spring-Planted Flower Bulbs

3 Tips To Extend Your Garden’s Bloom Season

1. Draw Your Plan

Sketching out a plan in advance of planting can be a helpful step. It will help you determine the right number of bulbs. Plus, since the foliage of fall-planted, spring-blooming bulbs dies back by early summer, this plan will provide a record of where the bulbs are planted, in case annuals or perennials are mixed in later. Knowing the bloom time and overall flower blooming season also helps you avoid bare spots.

2. Shop By Bloom Time

Use the Bloom Time filters on the Breck’s web site to sort flowers by their blooming season, and see each individual plant’s Bloom Time on its product page.

3. Plant Mixes To Extend Your Bloom Time

Breck’s offers curated easy-to-grow bulb mixes featuring a variety of bloom times. If you are seeing a gap in your garden, or if you’re feeling overwhelmed about how to plan a garden by bloom time, these collections are the perfect place to start. Enjoy a garden with non-stop flowers!

• 3 Months of Snowdrops (late winter to early spring)
• 2 Months of Flowering Crocus (very early spring to early spring)
• 3 Months Of Mixed Daffodils or 3 Months of Yellow Daffodils (very early to late spring)
• 2 Months Of Spring Carnival™ Tulip Mix or 2 Months of Long-Stemmed Tulip Mix (early to late spring)
• 2 Months of Double Daffodils (mid to late spring)
• 2 Months of Alliums (mid spring to early summer)
• All Season Lily Mixture (early to late summer)
• Summer to Fall Dahlia Mix (midsummer to frost)
• 6 Months of Flowering Cyclamen (late winter, early spring, and late summer)

For even more variety, shop all fall-planted bulb mixes and shop all spring-planted bulb mixes.