These Bulbs Are Ready for Their Encore

The cooler season is time for bulb planting in Texas, but our state’s warm weather and periods of drought can make it challenging to choose bulbs that will produce the colorful blooms we all want. Luckily, there are several types of bulbs that can take almost anything the Texas climate throws at them. Take advantage of the best options for Texas gardening.“There’s a wide variety of plants that don’t survive well in Texas, but there are many that do,” says David Salman, chief horticulturist of High Country Gardens.“I encourage people to try something new in their gardens.”Flowering bulbs that will naturalize to our climate are a great garden addition. Here is a list of five favorites, including tulips that return again and again. Drop a few of these flowering bulbs in the ground now and enjoy their colorful blooms for seasons to come.Red spider lilyThe red spider lily peeks out of the ground with a single stem. Within days, it grows up to a foot tall, with spidery blooms. Although they don’t produce seeds, they readily offset new bulbs, filling your garden with colorful blooms that come back every year. When these flowers bloom in late August and September, people always want to know what they are, says Christopher Weiss of Southern Bulb Co.Species tulipsSpecies tulips are different from the hybrid tulips many gardeners are accustomed to growing and either disposing after only one season or removing, chilling, and replanting each year, says Tony Lopez of the Dallas County Master Gardener Association Inc., a nonprofit educational and volunteer service organization affiliated with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.These returning beauties are smaller than hybrid tulips, but spread through self-seeding or stolons. Two species of tulip bulbs that naturalize here are the lady tulip (Tulipa clusiana), or candlestick tulip, and the fire tulip (Tulipa praecox), sometimes called the Texas tulip.Lady tulips form small clumps less than a foot tall and have numerous flowers that open to about 4 inches wide and bloom in the middle of spring. Lady Jane is a favorite variety, with showy blooms of red petals edged with white.The fire tulip is a naturalized heirloom plant with dramatic reddish-orange blooms that have yellow-bordered black centers. Fire tulips may flower as early as mid-March and are known to thrive in clay soils.Spanish bluebellsSpanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) make their appearance in early spring. They grow in any kind of soil and can be planted anytime, although fall planting delivers the maximum number of blooms.The plants have dark green foliage and a flower spike up to 12 inches tall that is covered with small blue trumpet-shaped flowers, or “bells.”They die back to the ground once hot weather sets in, but they’ll reappear in the spring.AlliumTexas gardeners often overlook allium or ornamental onion bulbs, but these tall plants crowned with a cluster of flowers are real show-stoppers. Plant bulbs in the fall, give them lots of sun, and you’ll be rewarded with gorgeous pops of color — purple, lilac, pink, blue, white, and even yellow — come late spring and summer.Oxblood lilyThe Oxblood lily (Rhodophiala bifida) is an heirloom plant in Texas that can often be seen blooming around abandoned homesteads. Plant these bulbs in late September or October. You will have to wait until the following September to enjoy the bright red flowers, but they’re worth the wait.GARDEN PLOTTING:More bulbs for the no-nonsense gardener. Consider giving these blooming beauties space in your garden.Crinum lily (Crinum americanum) has strap-like leaves that can grow to as long as 4 feet, and their clusters of flowers atop 2- to 3-foot stems are white or pink and often fragrant. This plant will tough out low moisture, heavy soil, or intense heat.Grand Primo narcissus produces long-lasting blooms with a sweet fragrance and vibrant foliage. Plant in the fall or early winter and it will multiply yearly in your garden.Golden Dawn narcissus produces two or three sweet-smelling flower stalks per bulb, providing color and fragrance over an extended period. It is heat- and drought-tolerant. Plant in fall or early winter.Snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum) handles shade and moisture better than many bulbs. Plant in the fall and enjoy small, bell-shaped blooms with green dots in late February.Gladiolus should be planted from early to mid-spring. Stagger planting times over several weeks to extend the display of blooms.White rain lily (Zephyranthes candida) thrives in full sun (although they appreciate shade in hot, dry conditions), partial shade, or in full shade in moist, well-drained soil. Plant in the spring; enjoy in the fall.