The Perfect Mix: Planting Bulbs, Annuals and Perennials

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Robert J. Dolezal

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Mixing bulbs in your landscape with blooming annuals and perennials provides you the best of all flowering worlds. Not only do such plantings bring color and interest to the garden, they keep the landscape in bloom three seasons of the year: They begin with a bloom of spring bulbs, segue to colorful seeded annuals or bedding plants, make way for the simultaneous blooms of summer bulbs and flowering perennials, then wrap it up with a final show of autumn-blooming bulbs as nights turn frosty.

Showy florist’s amaryllis and annual impatiens bedding plants are good companions in a sunny or filtered-sun spot.

Bearded irises mix with oriental poppy and evergreen shrub plantings. The effect they achieve is well-suited to this free-flowing, natural landscape.

Provide growing conditions that will keep both your bulb and flower plantings healthy. Bulbs need periods of drought to force them into dormancy and avoid fungal disease, while annuals and perennials require consistent irrigation. Divide your beds with clearly defined watering zones so you can apply or withhold water as needed. Drip irrigation systems that deliver pinpoint watering are an ideal solution; set one circuit of your automatic irrigation controller to water the bulbs according to their needs, a second for the annuals and a third for perennial flowers, shrubs and trees.

Deep-rooted, drought-tolerant annuals and perennials are the best companions to most bulbs. Globe amaranth, baby’s-breath, Dahlberg daisy, common geranium, lavender and morning glory are the great choices to mix with hardy begonia, dahlia, society garlic, lily and ornamental onion. For full-sun locations in early spring, mix Iceland poppy with daffodil and tulip for contrast in color and foliage. In shade, surround bluestars, Canterbury-bells and forget-me-nots with plantings of anemone, bluebells and bleeding hearts.

Clearly mark bulbs that require lifting. (Ice cream sticks make good shallow markers.) Whatever you use, place the markers as the bulb foliage begins to yellow to signify the locations for digging after the leaves have withered.

Rock gardens are a natural fit for many combo flower plantings. Stones define a bed and draw your eye, framing the plants. Place your landscape stones and install any permanent bed residents first, beginning with trees and woody shrubs. Then plant naturalizing bulbs and perennial flowers, finishing with annual bedding plants or seeds. Gather stakes, string, a shovel, bulb-planting tool, fertilizer, bulbs, plants and seeds, then take the easy steps shown in the following pictures and described in their captions.

Facts

Many short- to medium-height ornamental grasses make a nice background plant to layer between summer bulb plantings.

Tips

Consider bloom time, foliage color, shape and height, as well as plant hardiness zone, soil, water and sunlight needs when choosing perennials and annuals to place within a bulb planting.
When digging around tree and shrub roots is too difficult (and can harm the plant), add bulbs to your landscape by hanging baskets from tree limbs or place containers on an outdoor plant stand. This allows you to easily exchange spent blooms with the next showstopper throughout the season. When your inground perennials fill in with their blooms, move your bulb containers to another location in the yard until the perennials fade.

Come to The Garden Party and share your mixed bed with the rest of our Learn2Grow community. Post pictures of your garden, write a blog, or connect with our gardening experts and other home gardeners nationwide to share more gardening tips and ideas. Have a question about planting your bulbs with other plants? Visit the Learn2Grow Forums and post it for experienced gardeners to answer.

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