Spring is in the air and gardeners all around town are planning out their summer gardens. Glossy magazines showcase all the beautiful summer flowering bulbs that you can add to your garden in the Spring and enjoy all summer long. Lilies, peonies, dahlias, glads and callas are all in stock for you to choose from now.

Lilies are very easy to grow, and the selection of colour, shape and fragrance makes them workhorses in the garden. They are extremely winter-hardy and will get bigger and better each season. By adding a variety of lily types to your garden, you can have lilies in bloom nearly all summer long! Blooming starts with the Asiatic Lilies, then Trumpet Lilies, Tigers Lilies, Oriental Lilies and last but certainly not least very large growing Tree Lilies. Because these all bloom at slightly different times you can have lilies blooming from late June to early September. This group of true lilies is hardy enough to be left in the ground year-round in Campbell River.

In early spring you can buy peony tubers and plant them out in your garden. Peonies are a perennial that prefers not to be moved so try to plant them where you want them long-term. Don't bury them too deeply or they will not bloom well, and as with all flowering bulbs, tubers and corms add bonemeal or rock phosphate at planting to encourage roots and flowers. Peonies have delicate flowers but are prairie tough for winter hardiness, and even this past bitter cold winter hasn't hurt my peonies at all (in fact I think they liked it!). The lacy foliage of peonies is also quite lovely, enhancing the garden throughout the summer, and finally turning shimmery plum shades in the fall. Peonies are very deer resistant which brings a smile to many a gardener's face.

Dahlias make wonderful cut flowers and are also beautiful garden plants. They are fantastic for late summer and fall weddings, and market gardeners harvest and sell dahlias because the more you pick, the more they bloom. Dahlias are quite deer resistant making them well-loved up and down Vancouver Island. Lift your Dahlia tubers in late September and store them in a frost-free place then re-plant each spring generally after April 1st - but don't rush the weather. If we are having a cooler spring you can delay until early May.

Gladioli are one of those flowers that give us that vertical interest in the garden that makes a statement. Glads are great cut flowers adding, even more, drama to a big vase. Gladioli are easy to grow and bloom about 100 days after planting. Lift your glad bulbs in late September and store them in a frost-free place then re-plant each spring generally after April 1st - maybe a little later this year as we are having a cooler spring.

Colourful Calla lily bulbs (Zantedeschia) do not winter in our Campbell River gardens but have gorgeous summer flowers worth the effort. Shades of purplish-black, red, salmon and pink spathe-shaped blooms are breathtaking. Lift your coloured calla bulbs in late September and store them in a frost-free place then re-plant each spring generally after April 1st - maybe a little later this year as we are having a cooler spring.

We are here to help you make this the best summer in your 'backyard paradise' ever!

Shauna Lambeth ©

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