Growing Bulbs:Bulbs for Naturalizing

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Bulbs that Naturalize or Perennialize Well

Perennial bulbs are defined as those that will come back reliably for three to five years before diminishing. Naturalizing bulbs are those bulbs that accommodate themselves fully to their new sites, feeling so at home that they multiply naturally, on their own, increasing in numbers year after year.

To learn more about naturalizing Naturalizing

Blooming periods are indicated in parentheses, i.e. (5/7) = (May/July).

Spring Flowering (Plant in Fall)

Anemones

Perennialize in sun, great in borders.

Anemone blanda 'Blue Shades' - Greek Anemone, Windflower (3/4)

Anemone blanda Mixed - Windflower Mixed (3/4)

Anemone blanda 'Pink Star' - Windflower (3/4) ''Anemone blanda 'White Splendour' - Windflower (3/4)

Anemone nemorosa

Brodiaea

Naturalize well, great in grassy areas, along roadsides. Brodiaea - Star Flower (4/6) Camassia cusickii - Quamash, Cusick Camass (5/6)

Good in grassy areas:

Chionodoxa gigantea - Glory of the Snow (2/3) Need sun.(not good in warmer climates)

Chionodoxa luciliae - Glory of the Snow (2/3) Need sun.

Colchicum autumnale - Meadow Saffron (9/10) Need sun.

Crocuses

Excellent naturalizers.

Crocus ancyrensis - Golden Bunch Crocus (2/3)

Crocus 'Blue Bird' - Botanical Crocus (2/3)

Crocus 'Blue Pearl' - Botanical Crocus (2/3)

Crocus Botanical Mixed - Species Crocus (2/3)

Crocus 'E.P. Bowles' - Botanical Crocus (2/3)

Crocus 'Cream Beauty' - Botanical Crocus (2/3)

Crocus 'Jeanne d'Arc' - Dutch Crocus (2-3)

Crocus 'Pickwick' - Dutch Crocus (2-3)(not good in warmer climates)

Crocus purpureus grandiflorus - Dutch Crocus (2-3)

Crocus 'Remembrance' - Dutch Crocus (2-3)

Crocus 'Ruby Giant' - Botanical Crocus (2/3)

Crocus 'Whitewell Purple' - Botanical Crocus (2/3)

Crocus yellow - Dutch Crocus (2-3)

Crocus 'Flower Record'

Crocus tommasinianus

Erythronium - Dog-Toothed Violet, good in shade (especially Erythronium 'Pagoda')

Irises

These naturalize but not in a competitive area.

Iris danfordiae - Dwarf Iris (2/3)

Iris reticulata - Harmony, Dwarf Iris (2/3)

Xiphium, iris family, do well in zones 6-10, can cover whole yards

Muscari

Superb naturalizers.

Muscari armeniacum - Blue Spike, Grape Hyacinth (3/4)

Muscari botr. Album - Grape Hyacinth (3/4)

Muscari latifolium

Muscari tubergenianum

Daffodils

Classic naturalizers. A few standouts:

Narcissus 'Actaea' - Small-Cupped Daffodil (4/5)

Narcissus 'Barrett Browning' - Small-Cupped Daffodil (3/4)

Narcissus 'Birma '- Small-Cupped Daffodil (4)

Narcissus 'Carlton' - Large-Cupped Daffodil (3/4)

Narcissus 'February Gold' - Botanical Daffodil (3)

Narcissus 'Flower Record' - Large-Cupped Daffodil (3/4)

Narcissus 'Fortune' - Large-Cupped Daffodil (3/4)

Narcissus 'Hawera' - Botanical Daffodil (4)

Narcissus 'Ice Follies' - Large-Cupped Daffodil (3/4)

Narcissus 'Jack Snipe' - Botanical Daffodil (3/4)

Narcissus 'Minnow' - Botanical Daffodil (3)

Narcissus 'Mount Hood' - Trumpet Daffodil (3/4)

Narcissus 'Peeping Tom' - Botanical Daffodil (3)

Narcissus 'Salome' - Large-Cupped Daffodil (3/4)

Narcissus 'Suzy' - Botanical Daffodil (4)

Narcissus 'Tête à Tête' - Botanical Daffodil (2/3)

Scilla

Excellent naturalizers.

Scilla campanulata mixed - Spanish Bluebells (5)

Scilla siberica - Siberian Squill (3/4)

Scilla mischtschenkoana

Tulips that Perennialize

Tulips that perennialize must be cultivar-specific in choosing those you plant. Only certain ones will work. Those listed below are strong perennial performers.

Tulipa tarda - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa 'Candela' - botanical tulip

Tulipa 'Orange Emperor' - botanical tulip

Tulipa 'Don Quichotte' - Triumph Tulip (5)

Tulipa 'Kees Nelis' - Triumph Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Praestans Fusilier' - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa 'Princeps' - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa 'Purissima' - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa 'Red Emperor' - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa 'Red Riding Hood' - Botanical Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Toronto' - Botanical Tulip (4/5)

These tulips should work pretty well.

Tulipa 'Aladdin' - Lilyflowering Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Ballade' - Lilyflowering Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Maytime' - Lilyflowering Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Red Shine' - Lilyflowering Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'White Triumphator' - Lilyflowering Tulip (4/5)

These Darwin tulips are great for naturalizing, grow like weeds, rapid multipliers.

Tulipa 'Apeldoorn' - Darwin Hybrid Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Apeldoorn's Elite' - Darwin Hybrid Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Beauty of Apeldoorn' - Darwin Hybrid Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa Darwin Hybrid mixed - Darwin Hybrid Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Golden Apeldoorn' - Darwin Hybrid Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Holland's Glorie' - Darwin Hybrid Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Oxford' - Darwin Hybrid Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Striped Apeldoorn' - Darwin Hybrid Tulip (4/5)

Summer-Flowering (Plant in Spring)

These are good for naturalizing.

Convallaria - Lily-of-the-Valley (5/6) Dicentra spectabilis - Common Bleeding Heart (4/6)

Eucomis - Pineapple Plant (7/8)

Geranium tuberosum (7/9)

Hemerocallis (6/7)

Homeria (7/8)

Hosta (7/8)

Liatris spicata - Gay Feather, Spike Gay Feather (7/8)

Paeonia lactiflora - Peony (6/7)

Tigridia - Tiger Flower (7/9)

Zephyranthus - Flower of the West Wind (9/11)

Bulbs that Do Not Naturalize

Eremurus bungei - Foxtail Lily (5/7)

Eremurus Shelford - Foxtail Lily (5/7) Fritillaria imperialis - Crown Imperialis (4/5)

Fritillaria lutea maxima - Crown Imperialis (4/5)

Fritillaria persica (4/5)

Oxalis adenophylla - Pink Cushion Plant, Chilean Oxalis (3/4)

Sparaxis - Harlequin Flower, Wand Flower (6/8)

Tulipa greigii mixed - Botanical Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Heart's Delight' - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa kaufmanniana mixed - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa 'Plaisir' - Botanical Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Shakespeare' - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa 'Stresa' - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa urumiensis - Botanical Tulip (3)

Tulipa 'Yellow Dawn' - Botanical Tulip (3/4)

Tulipa 'Burgundy Lace' - Single Tulip (5)

Tulipa 'Charles' - Single Tulip (4)

Tulipa 'Chrismas Marve' - Single Tulip (4)

Tulipa 'Couleur Cardinal' - Single Tulip (4)

Tulipa 'Abu Hassan' - Triumph Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Golden Melody' - Triumph Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Merry Widow' - Triumph Tulip (4/5)

Tulipa 'Peerless Pink' - Triumph Tulip (4/5)

Anemone de Caen - Poppy (5/7)

Anemone St. Brigid - Poppy (5/7)

Naturalizers that May be Wild Collected

Most bulbs sold today are cultivated as renewable resources. However a very small amount of bulbs are collected in the wild and sold, a practice that is disparaged as threatening a limited resource. If bulbs are wild collected it must be stated on the package. Check the package or with the vendor before choosing any of the varieties below. If the package says they are from cultivated stock, they are not wild collected.

Arisaema

Cardiocrinum giganteum

Cyclamen, except Cyclamen persicum

Cypripedium

Dracunculus

Eranthis cilica

Eranthis hyemalis

Galanthus, except Galanthus nivalis

Irisacutiloba

Iris siberica sub species elegantissima

Iris kopetdaghensis

Iris paradoxa

Iris persica

Iris tuberosa

Leucojum vernum

Narcissus asturiensis

Narcissus bulbocodium sub species conspicuus

Narcissus bulbocodium sub species tenuifolius

Narcissus cyclamineus

Narcissus jucifolius

Narcissus rupicola

Narcissus scaberulus

Narcissus triandrus concolor

Narcissus triandrus albus'

Pancratium maritimum

Sternbergia, all species

Trillium

Urginea maritima

Uvularia