Bulb gardens

Bulbs are to gardening what frozen puff pastry is to baking: a versatile ingredient that can be planned into the menu or used as a quick fix for large still undefined settings. You set a mass planting of layered bulbs in the fall and get a work free garden the next year.

People usually associate them with spring and miss the wealth of summer and fall flowers they can yield.

Here is a list of summer and fall bulbs that shouldn't be missing from any garden: - irises that brighten up the flower beds in June with clumps that grow bigger every year. - giant alliums, completely maintenance free and staying in bloom for almost two months after which they turn into very decorative seed heads for additional garden interest. - freesias, plant after the last frost for summer blooms
- lilies, with their long lasting flowers, the best fragrance in the perennial border
- astilbe, perfect for a boggy site in the shade
- tuberous begonias, truly the roses of the shady garden, their spectacular flowers are the best flowers one can expect without full sun exposure. - hostas, yes, they are bulbs
- elephant ears, if you want to go big
- dahlias, of which I only saw pictures, never had them in the garden, maybe this year is the one. - tuberose, an exquisite perfume and the most elegant flowers, blooms right at the beginning of fall. - gladioli, both the regular ones and the fragrant star gladioli. - cannas, a large scale bold statement in red
- liatris, with their fuzzy plumes, are very long lasting summer flowers
- toad lily, despite its uninspiring name has the most exquisite orchid-like flowers and blooms after the rest of the garden has already gone to sleep for the winter, at the beginning of November. - lily of the valley, if you want to consider it a bulb
- cyclamen, crinum and belladonna lilies if you happen to live in a warm climate where winter maintains temperatures over 50 degrees. These bulbs only bloom in winter and go dormant in the summer heat. - crow
Imperial, a very showy plant that needs some hiding for the fading foliage.

I'm sure there are many more that should be considered, but this list is a good place to start. Of course bulb colors can be matched to whatever color scheme you use.