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Photo Credit: Jessie Keith

There are several species and many varieties of grape hyacinth you can plant in fall to create a wonderful bluish-purple carpet in spring.

Gardeners are believers – who else would plant a tiny seed and stand back and expect a gorgeous flower or crunchy carrot to grow? Gardeners keep their faith in bulbs, too, even though it seems unreal that these unattractive little things – not even as handsome as an onion – can produce stately giant trumpet daffodils or statuesque tulips to light up the garden each spring.

And for Southern California gardeners (as well as gardeners in most of North America), planting bulbs is high on the list of fall chores to get done before December.

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Photo Credit: International Flower Bulb Centre

Freesias produce some of the most fragrant spring flowers.

For beginners, bulb planting is a mystical rite full of questions: How deep do I plant? Which end goes down? How far apart should they be? When will I see them sprout? Do I water? How much fertilizer do they need? How can I tell if there’s a disease? When will they flower? Even for the seasoned gardener there are some new things to learn – and maybe even some new varieties to try.

No matter your level of gardening experience, the cardinal rule for bulbs is to get the ones you want before planting time. You can plant fall bulbs that will bloom come springtime in Southern California anytime from late September until early December, but if you procrastinate for too long you probably won’t find the type of bulbs you want – or worse yet, the quality of what’s left may be questionable.