Best Bulbs for Naturalizing
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For a carefree, colourful display year after year, let your bulbs go wild! Naturalizing flowering bulbs, or stinzenplanten, will keep your landscape ablaze with colour when other plants are just emerging in spring. We’ll explain how you can easily plan a long-lasting, low-maintenance display with naturalizing bulbs.
The Dutch word for this style of planting is Stinzenplanten. This term comes from the word “stinze,” meaning stone house or castle, in reference to the ancient country estates that planted that planted beautiful flower bulbs into their lawns and meadows, where they spread and multiplied over the centuries.
Naturalizing is the process of imitating nature with mass plantings of bulbs in scattered, organic layouts. In nature, bulbs do not grow in rows—the flowers appear in irregular clumps scattered over the landscape.
Naturalizing bulbs are hardy bulbs that return and multiply with little care, including snowdrops, winter aconites, crocus, Spanish bells, English bluebells, daffodils, and grape hyacinth.
Breck’s offers curated bulb mixes and collections to help you select the best naturalizing bulbs:
Also consider the garden setting and the effect you'd like to achieve. When planning, keep the meaning of naturalizing bulbs in mind: you are creating plantings that will return and expand each year with minimal intervention.
In lawns and the front of mixed borders, plant grape hyacinths and low-growing alliums. These are classic naturalizing bulbs that can be scattered and planted where they fall to create a relaxed, informal look. You also can tuck these bulbs for naturalizing into ground cover beds, such as creeping phlox, for colour and contrast.
For rock gardens, entryway locations and other areas where close-up detail is desired, choose small crocuses, snow glories, winter aconite, groundcover tulips, and other bulbs with diminutive blooms. Many of these are excellent naturalizing bulbs, especially when planted in soils that drain well. Plant them in small clusters at the corners of beds, in crevices between rocks, or between later blooming garden plants. Over time, these bulbs for naturalizing will spread gently, softening hard edges and adding early-season interest.
You can see why naturalized bulbs are so useful in these areas: they return every year without needing to be lifted or divided frequently!
If you've naturalized bulbs in your lawn, keep in mind that it is best not to mow down foliage until it dies down naturally, or the bulbs will eventually die out.
An exception to this is the foliage of crocus and snowdrops, which can be mowed in mid-spring. This simple approach to maintenance is at the heart of naturalizing bulbs: plant once, then allow nature to do most of the work.
Most daffodils are good naturalizers, however, since the foliage does not mature until the end of June, many gardeners have a tendency to mow off the foliage before its time. Therefore, it is wise to naturalize daffodils in an out-of-the-way location where lack of mowing can be tolerated. When you choose naturalizing daffodils for these spots, they will multiply over time, forming large, cheerful clumps.
In early spring, top-dress any bulb area with a balanced fertilizer, such as Breck's Food for Bulbs and Perennials, to ensure vigorous flowering. A light feeding every year or two will support strong growth and help your naturalizing bulbs continue to multiply.
For a carefree, colourful display year after year, let your bulbs go wild! Naturalizing flowering bulbs, or stinzenplanten, will keep your landscape ablaze with colour when other plants are just emerging in spring. We’ll explain how you can easily plan a long-lasting, low-maintenance display with naturalizing bulbs.
What Does Naturalizing Bulbs Mean?
Many gardeners ask, what does “naturalizing bulbs” mean? Naturalizing bulbs means planting hardy bulbs that multiply, and allowing them to spread over time, gradually forming drifts and clumps.The Dutch word for this style of planting is Stinzenplanten. This term comes from the word “stinze,” meaning stone house or castle, in reference to the ancient country estates that planted that planted beautiful flower bulbs into their lawns and meadows, where they spread and multiplied over the centuries.
Naturalizing is the process of imitating nature with mass plantings of bulbs in scattered, organic layouts. In nature, bulbs do not grow in rows—the flowers appear in irregular clumps scattered over the landscape.
Naturalizing bulbs are hardy bulbs that return and multiply with little care, including snowdrops, winter aconites, crocus, Spanish bells, English bluebells, daffodils, and grape hyacinth.
Breck’s offers curated bulb mixes and collections to help you select the best naturalizing bulbs:
- Daffodils for Naturalizing Mix
- Giant Yellow Jonquils for Naturalizing
- Giant Daffodils for Naturalizing
- Giant Crocus for Naturalizing Bulb Collection
- Eternal Spring 3 Month Naturalizing Bulb Collection
Getting Started with Stinzenplanten
Before deciding where to plant naturalizing bulbs, consider where your landscape needs more colour at various times in spring and early summer. By planting a combination of different species and cultivars that qualify as naturalizing bulbs, you'll enjoy a succession of bloom that lasts several months or more.Also consider the garden setting and the effect you'd like to achieve. When planning, keep the meaning of naturalizing bulbs in mind: you are creating plantings that will return and expand each year with minimal intervention.
Plant naturalizing bulbs in your lawn with 3 easy steps:
- Use the back of a shovel, a trowel, or a dibbler to dig a slit into the grass at the right depth for your bulb type.
- Lift up the sod and plant 2-4 bulbs (smaller crocus bulbs may fit more than larger daffodil bulbs).
- Remove the shovel and tamp down the sod with your foot.
Where to Naturalize Bulbs in Your Landscape
In a woodland garden, incorporate bold, sweeping drifts of early spring colour. The moist soils and shaded conditions are ideal for naturalizing snowdrops, crocus, early daffodils, Grecian windflowers, early snow glories and winter aconite. These plants colonize vigorously and thrive under deciduous trees, making them excellent naturalizing bulbs. Here, the beauty of naturalizing bulbs becomes easy to see, as they spread gently through leaf litter and along paths, mimicking the way bulbs grow in the wild. In lawns and the front of mixed borders, plant grape hyacinths and low-growing alliums. These are classic naturalizing bulbs that can be scattered and planted where they fall to create a relaxed, informal look. You also can tuck these bulbs for naturalizing into ground cover beds, such as creeping phlox, for colour and contrast. For rock gardens, entryway locations and other areas where close-up detail is desired, choose small crocuses, snow glories, winter aconite, groundcover tulips, and other bulbs with diminutive blooms. Many of these are excellent naturalizing bulbs, especially when planted in soils that drain well. Plant them in small clusters at the corners of beds, in crevices between rocks, or between later blooming garden plants. Over time, these bulbs for naturalizing will spread gently, softening hard edges and adding early-season interest.
You can see why naturalized bulbs are so useful in these areas: they return every year without needing to be lifted or divided frequently!
Caring for Naturalized Bulbs
Naturalized bulbs require very little care. Simply let the foliage die back naturally, to ensure that the plants have had ample time to recharge their bulbs so they can produce flowers for the following year. The foliage can either be removed by hand or left alone to fade on its own.If you've naturalized bulbs in your lawn, keep in mind that it is best not to mow down foliage until it dies down naturally, or the bulbs will eventually die out.
An exception to this is the foliage of crocus and snowdrops, which can be mowed in mid-spring. This simple approach to maintenance is at the heart of naturalizing bulbs: plant once, then allow nature to do most of the work.
Most daffodils are good naturalizers, however, since the foliage does not mature until the end of June, many gardeners have a tendency to mow off the foliage before its time. Therefore, it is wise to naturalize daffodils in an out-of-the-way location where lack of mowing can be tolerated. When you choose naturalizing daffodils for these spots, they will multiply over time, forming large, cheerful clumps.
In early spring, top-dress any bulb area with a balanced fertilizer, such as Breck's Food for Bulbs and Perennials, to ensure vigorous flowering. A light feeding every year or two will support strong growth and help your naturalizing bulbs continue to multiply.
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