Ivydene Gardens Bulb, Corm, Rhizome and Tuber Gallery:
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Instead of simply viewing a lawned area in your back or front garden, because you are too busy to maintain a garden, you could plant bulbs in those lawns as detailed in Bulbs in Short Grass chapter within Bulbs - a complete handbook of bulbs, corms and tubers by Roy Genders. Published in 1973 by Robert Hale & Company.

The dwarf-flowering bulbs may be planted in the short grass of a lawn. Besides their value for planting in a lawn, they may be used by the side of a path and also about the rock or alpine garden, while they are equally suitable to plant in a trough or window box. They are not seen to advantage in rough grass which would hide their flower, but in grass which is kept neat and tidy and for planting in bare ground beneath mature trees, they are delightful.
An alpine lawn may be made at the side of a wild garden or alongside a path or drive leading to the house, utilising a strip of grass 80 inches (200 cm) wide which is to be kept short. Or the bulbs may be planted at one side of a lawn which will not need mowing until the foliage of the bulbs has had time to die back after flowering. For this reason, it may be better to plant only spring-flowering bulbs here and to use those which come in summer and autumn either in the wild garden or in the shrub beds where apart from a yearly mulch in winter, they will require no attention.

An Alpine Lawn
It may be made by inserting into the ground large pieces of tufa stone with the flat surface showing above ground. After removing the turf to the necessary dimensions, the stone should be inserted into the ground so that only about 6 inches (15 cms) is showing above the level of the surrounding lawn. One part of the stone may be slightly higher than the rest sp that there will be a gentle slope. Each stone should be made to slope in the same direction and there should be ample space between each in which to plant the miniature bulbs in groups of 7 or more (an odd number is easier to make look as a random group than an even number, which you would naturally pair together). Stones having a large upper surface should be used so as to provide the natural effect as of a mountainous slope. Make the soil quite firm about the sides of the stones and replace the turf right up to them.
The grass around and between the stones in which the bulbs are growing may be kept tidy by clipping with shears after the foliage has died back. The alpine lawn can be treated like a rock garden and planted with bulbs for all seasons.

Bulbs in the Lawn.
Bulbs in the lawn should be planted as late in autumn as possible, after the grass has been given its final cut for the year. The shorter the grass, the easier they are to plant.
There are 2 methods of planting:-

• Either a section of turf is lifted by cutting it out with a sharp spade to the required measurements. Where a section of turf is removed with a spade or is rolled back by cutting on 3 sides, the soil should be stirred and a little peat and sand placed over the surface into which the bulbs will be pressed. 6 to 8 small bulbs may be planted where about one square foot of turf has been removed - 1 square foot = 12x12 inches = 30x30 cms. Do not plant in straight lines, and do not remove the turfs with geometric precision; aim at a natural-looking arrangement
  or
• the bulbs are inserted singly, using a special bulb trowel or a bulb-planting tool suitable for small bulbs. It will save time and energy where the garden is large. A bulb trowel is so designed that a small circular piece of turf, and soil to the correct depth, may be cut away with ease. The bulb is then dropped in and the turf replaced and made firm. When planting singly, as each opening is made drop some compost before the bulb is placed in position (the right way up). It is important to ensure that the base of the bulb is in contact with the compost, so that root action may begin promptly. If the bulb is in an air pocket, it may not form satisfactory roots. For this reason a pointed tool should never be used for making the hole.

It is a good idea to mark out the ground by means of plant labels printed with the name of the bulb before any planting is done. Plan as you would do before planting the herbaceous border, so that the purple-blue grape hyacinths may bloom with the yellow and white-flowered miniature daffodils, and let the spring snowflakes mingle with the scillas.
Bulbs are ideal plants for the labour-saving garden, for even if the garden has been left derelict for any length of time, it will come alive again through its bulbs just as soon as a clearance has been made, even though almost all other plant life will have been choked out of existence.

Correct Planting Depths
Planting depths must not be haphazard, for though certain liberties may be taken with the larger bulbs, the miniatures must be planted with care. Those producing a corm rather than a bulb - e.g. anemone and aconite - should be planted no more than 2 inches (5 cm) deep; other depths may vary between 3 and 4 inches (7.5-10 cm), depending on the size of bulb and soil conditions. All bulbs should be planted an inch (2.5 cm) deeper in sandy than in heavy soil (clay).

Many more of the dwarf bulbs may be grown if one moves away from the traditional grass lawn and plants the creeping bent grass, Agrostis stolonifera. As such a 'lawn' will not require cutting until late in June each year, the later-flowering spring bulbs may be planted, those which do not finish flowering until the end of May.
The bulbs are best planted before the 'lawn' is made, so as not to disturb the grass tufts, but if planting later; it is not difficult to part the tufts. Always plant in groups where space permits.

A Chamomile 'Lawn'
Miniature bulbs may also be planted among carpeting plants which form a colourful 'lawn' and which will be entirely labour-saving and beautiful almost throughout the year.
The plants will grow in an outward direction rather than upright, and will quickly cover the ground, if planted about 9 inches (23 cms) apart. They will require trimming only once or twice each summer. This may be done either with shears or with a mower whose rotary blades are raised as high as possible. It was Falstaff who said of such a lawn, 'the more it is trodden upon, the faster it grows', and if the herb lawn is not walked upon at all often, it should be rolled as frequently as possible. The drier the soil the more fragrant will the plants be, and there are few more agreeable couches than a dry, sweet-smelling herb lawn on a hot UK day in summer.

Bulbs in Short Grass chapter within Bulbs - a complete handbook of bulbs, corms and tubers by Roy Genders. Published in 1973 by Robert Hale & Company.
Contents

History, Culture and Characteristics

• Early History
• Botanical Characteristics of Bulbs, Corms and Tubers
• Propagation
• Bulbs in the Woodland Garden
• Bulbs in Short Grass
• Bulbs in the Shrubbery
• Spring Bedding
• Summer Bedding
• A border of bulbs
• Bulbs for the alpine garden
• Bulbs for trough garden and window box
• Bulbs for alpine house and frame
• Bulbs in the home
• Scent in bulbs
• Diseases and pests of bulbs and corms

Alphabetical Guide

Appendices

Appendix A Planting depths (Outdoors)

Appendix B Bulbs and their habitat

Appendix C Planting and flowering times for outdoor cultivation

Appendix D Flowering times for indoor bulbs

Appendix E Bulbs with scented flowers

Appendix F Common names of bulbous plants

Appendix G From sowing time to bloom

From the total of 804 bulbs linked to in this gallery:-

• You can select
  3 of the herbaceous perennials described within a
  page of the 1000 Groundcover Plants; being Plant Selection Level 5 in the Plants Topic.
• You can also select
  1 of the bulbs described within a page from Camera Photo Galleries by clicking on the centre of its thumbnail in the relevant Foliage Colour Month Comparison page within this gallery.
• You can select one of the
  54 Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes and Tubers by clicking on the name in the Bulb Index link to an Infill Gallery Page (Instead of a Bulb Description Page) menu on the right
• You can select one of the
  746 BULBS, CORMS, RHIZOMES AND TUBERS by clicking on the name in the Bulb Index link to Bulb Description Page menu on the right ---->

or

by clicking the Thumbnail to see its Plant Description alongside from the:-

• Bulb Flower Colour per Month Comparison Pages of the Flower Colour Wheel below:-
   

or by clicking on its Bulb Description Page Name in the :-

• Allium and Anemone Gallery Introduction and Site Map - 97 bulbs
• Autumn Bulb Gallery Introduction and Site Map - 46 bulbs
• Colchicum and Crocus Bulb Introduction and Site Map - 118 bulbs
• Dahlia Tuber Gallery Introduction and Site Map - 46 bulbs
• Gladiolus Corm Galleries Introduction and Site Map - 201 Corms
  • Gladiolus European A-E Corm Gallery,
  • Gladiolus European F-M Corm Gallery,
  • Gladiolus European N-Z Corm Gallery,
  • Gladiolus European Non-Classified Corm Gallery,
  • Gladiolus American
    A,
    B,
    C,
    D,
    E,
    F,
    G,
    H,
    I,
    J,
    K,
    L,
    M,
    N,
    O,
    P,
    Q,
    R,
    S,
    T,
    U,
    V,
    W and
    XYZ Corm Galleries
  • Gladiolus American Non-Classified Corm Gallery,
• Hippeastrum and Lily Bulb Gallery Introduction and Site Map - 62 Bulbs
• Late Summer Bulb Introduction and Site Map - 92 bulbs
• Narcissus Bulb Gallery Introduction and Site Map - 54 bulbs
• Winter Bulb Introduction and Site Map - 3 bulbs
• Tulip Bulb Introduction and Site Map - 22 bulbs
• Spring Bulb Introduction and Site Map - 5 bulbs

• or

by clicking on the Thumbnail to see its Plant Description alongside from these comparison pages in each of the above Bulb Galleries:-

• Bulb Flower Colour
• Bulb Foliage Colour
• Bulb Form
• Bulb Seed Colour
• Bulb in Flower Bed Pictures Comparison pages or

or clicking on the Botanical Name link from one of the:-

• All Flowers Colour Wheel ,
  All Flowers per Month Colour Wheel ,
  Foliage Colour Wheel or
  Rock Garden Plant Colour Wheel Pages
  or the
• Index G of Bulb, Corm, Rhizome and Tuber Page

or clicking the Thumbnail to see its Plant description Page alongside from the 12 Colour Pages per Calendar Month in the:-

• Bloom in Month Pages

Empty Bulb Flower Colour per Month Comparison Pages of this gallery are in the following list:-

Empty Bulb Flower Colour per Month Comparison Pages

Bulb Index J Bulb Index K Bulb Index Q Bulb Index R Bulb Index U Bulb Index W Bulb, Corm, Rhizome and Tuber Gallery Introduction Site Map for Bulb Rhizome or Tuber Individual Plants

The 3 natural divisions of Colchicum are:-

• 1. Autumn-flowering species and hybrids
• 2. Winter- and Spring-flowering species and
• 3. Tessellated species, those marked with a crisscross pattern on the petals in colors of dark and light rosy mauve

The 2 natural divisions of Crocus are:-

• 1. Autumn-flowering species and hybrids and
• 2. Winter- and Spring-flowering species

and the relevant division is added to the Plant Description Page Title.

Some of the Bulb Names in the Bulb Index Pages have '- tender' appended.
These are from the Winter Growing Bulbs subsection of the Late Summer Bulbs section from R.V. Roger - "Most of the species originate from the winter rainfall areas of southern Africa. They should not be considered as hardy although there are many instances of them over-wintering in sheltered well drained situations. By far the safest way is to grow them indoors in pots. The range of colours and fragrances is breathtaking, they add a real cheer to the early part of the year."

Some of the Bulb Names in the above list have - autumn appended.
These are from the Autumn Flowering Bulbs subsection of the Late Summer Bulbs section from R.V. Roger :- "This much overlooked group of bulbs deserve to be planted much more often. They are seldom offered in any variety because of their short dormant season."

The Scottish Rock Garden Club website has Ian Young's Weekly Bulb Log which was started in 2003 and will provide a lot of information about many bulbs. Use his bulb log ....: (pdf) to see which log number from which year the information about the bulb you are interested in is in. Then either use this page for logs in 2009-2010 or this one for logs in 2003-2008.

"How to grow bulbs in a vase" from eHow.com

R. V. Roger Ltd, The Nurseries, Malton Road (A169), Pickering, North Yorkshire, YO18 7JW - Tel:(01751)472226 - Fax:(01751)476749 is a traditional third-generation family-run nursery, with the emphasis on plant quality and first-class customer service. The range of field-grown fruit trees grown is one of the best in the country, including many traditional varieties, which are becoming quite rare. They also grow over 40,000 roses in nearly 300 varieties. The rose field is usually in flower from the middle of July until the autumn, when you are welcome to visit and walk through the field. Besides shrubs and ornamental trees, R. V. Roger also produce four bulb catalogues throughout the year, offering choice for a plant or plants by mail order direct from the 280 acre nursery.

The British Gladiolus Society
The British Gladiolus Society aims to promote and improve all aspects of Gladiolus culture. Members benefit from the advice and experience of successful growers both in the United Kingdom and abroad and it is usually only a phone call, e.mail or letter away. Members receive a free copy of the Gladiolus Annual, which is a comprehensive yearly publication distributed worldwide to individuals, institutes and affiliated societies. Three Newsletter bulletins per year, free admission to exhibitions where this can be arranged and the right to exhibit at all society shows. Images were provided by Nigel Coe with the same copyright permission as for Christine Foord, but the copyright of the images remains with The British Gladioli Society. Permission to use the original images and to get them is to be obtained from Nigel Coe.
Web:www.britglad.com

William J. Owen - International Gladiolus Registrar
Images and information about the International Gladiolus Classification list were provided with the same copyright permission as Christine Foord, but the copyright of the images remains with William J. Owen and The North American Gladiolus Council. The larger images are used in these 25 American Gladiolus Galleries and the thumbnails in the Bulb and Colour Wheel Comparison Pages. Permission to use the original images and to get them is to be obtained from William J. Owen, International Gladiolus Registrar of The North American Gladiolus Council, 675 Mac Elroy Road, Ballston Lake NY 12019-2201.
Web: North American Gladiolus Council

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Ivydene Horticultural Services

Note - the Bulb Gallery names of
Autumn Bulb,
Late Summer Bulb
Winter and
Spring Bulb refer to when the bulbs are delivered to you from one of the suppliers R.V. Roger, not when they flower.