Summer bulbs
Did you know there's a full range of summer bulbs available at our garden centre to add a splash of colour to your summer garden? Flower bulbs are not just for springtime, there are a lot of colourful varieties to add to your garden. Visit our garden centre in spring to get your summer bulbs in on time. Summer bulbs need to be planted in spring. Discover hundreds of beautiful summer-flowering bulbs for a dazzling display until autumn. Fill up borders, containers, flower pots and beds with summer bulbs from Elmwood Nursery & Garden Centre in Emersons Green, Bristol.
When to plant summer bulbs
Summer bulbs need warm soil and warm weather to establish. When the winter cold is over, and the soil warms up, it's time to plant summer bulbs. The best is to plant summer bulbs after the chance on frost is over, but you can plant your summer bulbs all the way through spring, as long as the ground isn't frozen. Most summer bulbs prefer a sunny location. Check the plant label for specific instructions on how and where to plant them. Plant summer bulbs with the smaller end facing upwards in the ground, the same way you plant spring bulbs.
Best summer bulbs to plant
There is a wide range of summer bulbs available at our garden centre. They may be less popular than spring bulbs, but summer bulbs can turn your garden into an exotic paradise. Choose from our colourful assortment and start planting. Here's a list of our favourite summer stars:
- Alliums: the firework-like spheres of showy purple alliums light up the border from May to July. Choose from tall drumsticks of 'Purple Sensation', the huge 20cm-across spheres of 'Globemaster', or low-growing Allium karataviense with pale pink heads and broad purple leaves. Nectaroscordum siculum is closely related, with umbrellas of dangling bell-shaped creamy flowers flushed lilac.
- Dahlias: in flower from June to autumn, the choice is as dazzling as the flowers. Single-flowered dahlias mix most easily into borders: try scarlet 'Bishop of Llandaff' or white 'Twyning's After Eight'.
- Lilies: heady mid- to late-summer fragrance is the hallmark of stately Oriental lilies like white Lilium regale. Brightly-coloured Asiatics like the yellow 'Grand Cru' are non scented but don't need staking: and elegant Martagon lilies have over 20 blooms to a stem.
- Crocosmia: super-easy to grow with handsome strappy foliage, flame-coloured crocosmia lights up borders from July to September. Choose from vivid scarlet 'Lucifer', crimson-splashed orange 'Emily McKenzie' or buttery 'Warburton's Yellow'.
- Gladioli: one of the most popular summer bulb varieties. Not just the flower, but the flower bulbs are colourful, too. Grown for their spiky stems with funnel-shaped flowers available in many different shades. Discover the bright red Gladioli Carthago, stunning white-purple Gladioli Amber Mystique or the deep purple Gladioli Violetta.
Buy summer bulbs at Elmwood
Are you excited to get your garden filled with summer bulbs? Explore our range of summer stars and start planning and designing your summer garden. Do you need help or advice? Please ask the staff in our Emersons Green garden centre for more information about choosing the right bulbs for dazzling summer displays.
