Ahh, the joy of planting fall bulbs! It’s one of the most exciting times for us at The Starter Farm in Santa Ynez, California. We plant thousands of bulbs, tubers and corms each fall and wait with baited breath for the explosion of color that will burst forth, like a floral firework display, in late winter through early spring. Here at the farm, most of our bulbs and corms go into long beds to be cut for our favorite customers, however, we can’t resist tucking a few into our own gardens to enjoy their full spring display. The bulbs on offer, if left to die back naturally, will return year after year to give a lifetime of color that signals the beginning of the spring season. Some of your bulbs will even multiply, offering added delights that can be shared or spread around your garden in years ahead! This is dependent on your soil and climate, so read a head for more details. I am so excited to share with you, Annie’s 2023 collection of fall-planted bulbs that’s full of interesting, hard-to-find, new and classic varieties.

Narcissus

Let’s start with Narcissus! While commonly known as Daffodils, these varieties are not your common supermarket offerings. Narcissus are the workhorse of the spring garden and one of the earliest flowers to emerge from the ground.  As an added treat, many Narcissus are fragrant and provide the perfect perfume to cut and bring into your home.  Another wonderful quality of Narcissus is deer tend to avoid them. Now let’s talk about these varieties!

And now, some of my surprise favorite Narcissus.  I’ll confess, I was a little suspect of these multi-flowering varieties when I first started planting.  They looked different, I was not sure how long they would last when cut and they reminded me more of the common paperwhites you see around the winter holidays.  Boy was I wrong.  These fragrance monsters are stunners and extremely long lasting in the vase.  They fill a room with a lovely soft scent that is like fresh linen combined with strategic dabs of your favorite floral perfume.  When bunched, these flowers fill a bouquet that is perfect on its own.

Pro Notes for arranging with Daffodils! When cutting single cup varieties, we select stems that have buds which are fully colored, but slightly nodding (aptly called the ‘gooseneck’ stage) for the longest vase life.  Multi-stemmed varieties can be picked a bit closer to full bloom as they tend to have a longer vase life. When used as a cut flower, Narcissus can be a beautiful saboteur of her vase companions.  Once cut, Daffodils emit a sticky sap that will cause other flowers to wilt when arranged together.  You can easily thwart Narcissus’ aims by “bleeding” them out in their own water for a half hour until the sap stops and they can play nicely. You can then arrange them with other spring beauties if you do not recut them.

Ranunculus

Ranunculus are our most anticipated flowers for the season!  Ranunculus are often called spring’s peony, with their similarly shallow-cup-shaped flowers that spills forth layers and layers of petals, these blooms beat everyone to the garden and come in a multitude of colors.  Ranunculus make excellent cut flowers and should be picked once the buds start to color and are about to explode.  Most growers call this the “Marshmallow” stage. This will give you the longest possible vase life and flowers will continue to open after they’re cut.  The one exception would be the butterfly varieties. Cut stems when flowers are open.

For gardeners new to the world of fall planted bulbs and corms, Ranunculus are an excellent starting place. They should be shallowly planted at a depth of 1” to 2” in the garden or in containers. Make sure to avoid soils that may sit heavy and wet for long stretches through winter. They will sit dormant through the end of fall and into early winter. You should see green growth pushing in mid to late winter. This can vary depending on growing region and planting times.  In zones 9 and 10 bulbs can be left in well drained soils year to year. In colder climates and heavier soils, lift bulbs and overwinter indoors in a cool, dark space with low humidity.  If you think your ready to step up your Ranunculus game, I have some grower’s pro tips below.

Half Clone selections are their own animal…a strapping and beautiful animal. These Ranunculus are actually created through a process of combining tissue cultivation and seed production (some horticulture that is a bit above my pay grade).  What it gives us is selections that consistently produces robust plants with astonishing bloom rates.  The size of the flowers is impressive on solid stems prepared to do some heavy lifting.

Butterfly Ranunculus

Lastly the Butterfly Ranunculus. Oh, the butterflies.  Commercial growers for years have had access to these fantastic angels.  They are just now being offered to the general public and I personally am excited for you!  Unlike traditional ranunculus, Butterfly Ranunculus produce multiple flowers on a single branching stem that dances on the breeze.  A couple of stems will give you a full bouquet.  They add a lightness and air to our arrangements. Did I mention the colors?

Planting Ranunculus corms 1” to 2” deep in well drained soils will do any gardener just fine, but if you’re ready to do it like the pros, here are a few tips from the Starter Farm.  Ranunculus benefit from a process call pre-sprouting.  It is the act of hydrating corns and tubers in circulating water for about 6 hours before planting.  At the farm we tend to go shorten this for the Butterfly series as we want to make sure not to oversoak these larger roots and cause rot.  To help us circulate the water, we use a small water pump and some air stones (check out the fish section of your local pet store for everything you need).  We add a diluted compost tea as

we believe it enhances this process. A simpler way to do this is to leave them in a bucket under a barely dripping tap to cause movement and provide oxygen to the water.  You may find that using the drip method may add more plumping time to your process. You want the corms to double in size but not break apart. Once soaked we take the corms out of the water, allow them to drip dry and immediately plant them in soil that we amend with some good compost.  Once the plants are established, we fertilize with a good and balanced organic fertilizer as ranunculus are heavy feeders.  It is recommended you do this whole process just before your planting zone’s first expected frost date.  Ranunculus require cooler soil for strong root development. This pre-spouting process accomplishes two things.  One it gives you an earlier flowering time and two helps ensure that tubers are properly hydrated to give you the most robust possible growth. It is important to maintain consistent soil moisture during the first two weeks after planting while making sure not to overwater which will cause rot.

There is plenty of other growing information online for all of these varieties if you have further questions about spacing and growing conditions.  Happy growing and I hope you too share the joy we have with fall planted bulbs!

Mark Donofrio

Founder and Head Farmer at

The Starter Farm

www.thestarterfarm.com

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Mark Donofrio is a dear friend and an experienced flower farmer, growing a truly envy inducing assortment of flowers that he and his customers use to craft into fantastical bouquets. If you find yourself anywhere near Santa Ynez just a short drive from Santa Barbara on the Central Coast of California, pop into the areas many flower shops and locally owned grocery stores to see his fine craftsmanship in full display. Mark helped us to curate our selection of bulbs this year. He entertained and educated us in equal parts as he treated us to tales of growing, and his lists of bulbs that brought him endless delights as well as the occasional duds (we definitely skipped those). His enthusiasm and craft are an inspiration. To see more of his work visit his website www.thestarterfarm.com or pop onto his Instagram @thestarterfarm/

– Colleen W., Plant Maven

Tags: bay area, bulbs, garden, Garden design