One of September's most important and exciting jobs is to start buying and planting spring-flowering bulbs.

Bulbs are easy plants to grow. They have a mystique bordering on the miraculous but many of them naturalize readily, are drought resistant, and are unbelievably easy to grow.

Buy Bulbs Now to Plant Later

Begin purchasing spring-flowering bulbs as soon as possible; they soon get picked over and sometimes put back in the wrong bins. We carry many varieties that will do well in our climate zone. Choose the largest and fattest bulbs, because they produce the biggest blooms.

Among the choices for our area are crocuses, daffodils, muscari, oriental lilies, Dutch irises and tulips.

Look for daffodils with three or more divisions. Don't pull them apart. If they're still connected, each point will produce a bloom. Feel them gently to make sure they're firm to the touch; softness means rot.

Hyacinths perform best and give the most bloom if you buy large bulbs.

Tulips have to be bought yearly. Don't buy 'naked' tulip bulbs, ones that have lost their tunics (the brown papery skin); they might be dried out.

Take them home but don't plant most of the bulbs yet. Wait until the weather cools down later this month. Store them in a cool, dry area until planting time.

Buy Bulbs to Plant NOW

Some bulbs can and should be planted in September as soon as you buy them. Among these are some superb choices from the daffodil (Narcissus) family, various oxalis from the Western Hemisphere and many bulbs and corms from South Africa.

When purchasing your bulbs jot down the directions for planting as to depth and spacing. Ask us for best planting times for the bulbs you choose.

Before planting, prepare the area properly by amending the soil if needed. When adding fertilizer, mix it into the soil near the bottom of the hole. Different bulbs will require different planting depths.

Spring bulb displays are less predictable than summer flowers, and it can be especially disappointing when different bulbs planted in the same windowbox flower at different times. The consolation is that this does at least extend the interest. A good alternative is to plant single-subject displays which, although often brief, are frequently bolder.

Make sure that there are drainage holes, and add a layer of material to aid quick drainage, such as broken pots or pieces of chipped bark (normally sold for mulching).

Add enough potting soil to cover the bottom couple of centimeters (about an inch). As the bulbs do not need a lot of nutrients during the winter, you can often use some of the potting mixture previously used for summer bedding.

You can pack in more bulbs by planting in layers. Place large bulbs such as daffodils or tulips at the lower level.

Add more potting soil, then position the smaller bulbs, such as crocuses and scillas. Try to position them so that they lie between the larger bulbs. Be careful about the bulbs that you mix - small crocuses will be swamped by tall daffodils, so choose miniature or dwarf daffodils, to keep a suitable balance.

Top up with more potting soil, but leave about an inch of space at the top for watering and perhaps for decorative mulch. As the windowbox will look bare for some months, a few winter pansies will add a touch of interest. Don’t worry about the bulbs beneath - they will find their way through the pansies.