Bee and Butterfly Garden Collection Bulbs

Light Needs

Part Sun to Full Sun

(5+ Hours Direct Sun)

Mature Height

6-30 in.

Mature Spread

3-6 in.

Growing Zones

4 to 8

The Bee and Butterfly Garden Collection produces a succession of white, yellow, blue, and purple flowers that begin in late winter and continue into early summer. The 120 fall-planted bulbs and dormant tubers includes Leucojum aestivum (summer snowflake), Eranthis hyemalis (winter aconite), Scilla siberica, Fritillaria meleagris, Camassia quamash, Tulipa sylvestris, Allium sphaerocephalon, and a blue-flowered Anemone selection. Different flower shapes and heights, from about 3 to 24 inches tall, appear in sequence, giving bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects several periods of nectar and pollen. 

The collection is designed for gardens in USDA zones 3-8 and combines species with different growth habits and bloom times. Scilla, camassia, winter aconite, summer snowflake, and alliums can establish expanding colonies in suitable sites, while tulips may be shorter lived. Use the assortment along sunny woodland edges, beside walks, through mixed borders, or across larger naturalized beds where the bulbs have room to increase.

Bee and Butterfly Garden Collection Bulbs Care

Plant Bee and Butterfly Garden Collection Bulbs in fall after soil temperatures have cooled and before the ground freezes. Place larger bulbs about 5 to 6 inches deep and smaller bulbs or tuberous types closer to 3 inches deep. Full sun to partial shade suits the collection, and deciduous-tree sites often provide excellent spring light before the canopy fills in. Prepare loose, well-drained garden soil with a slightly acidic to neutral pH around 6.0 to 7.0, improving dense clay with organic matter before planting.

After covering the bulbs, soak the bed thoroughly to settle soil around the roots and dormant structures. During active spring growth, water when several dry days leave the root zone noticeably dry. Apply a balanced bulb fertilizer at planting or as shoots begin appearing in spring, following the label rate across the entire planting area. Once foliage begins disappearing, reduce supplemental irrigation, keeping in mind that tulips and alliums favor a drier summer rest while camassia and summer snowflake tolerate more seasonal moisture.

Remove finished tulip flowers before seed develops. Decorative allium seed heads and naturally seeding species can remain when a more expansive colony is preferred. Let every plant retain its foliage until the leaves yellow or collapse on their own, since each species finishes storing energy on a slightly different schedule. Congested colonies can be lifted and separated after dormancy begins.

Bee and Butterfly Garden Collection Bulbs Spacing

Arrange bulbs roughly 3 to 6 inches apart according to size, mixing them in irregular groups. For container growing, use a pot at least 12 inches deep with unobstructed drainage and group bulbs with similar moisture preferences together, which makes summer care much easier. Pots in colder zones benefit from protection in an unheated location where the root zone is buffered from repeated severe freezing.

Bee and Butterfly Garden Collection Bulbs Companion Plants

Amsonia is a useful perennial partner in sunnier beds because its spring shoots rise among the bulbs and its expanding summer foliage occupies space after early bulb leaves begin disappearing. African daisy can share a sunny container planted with the tulip and allium portion of the collection, since all three perform best with ample light and free drainage. Summersweet suits the more moisture-retentive, partially shaded side of a larger planting, providing a shrub layer near camassia and summer snowflake while extending pollinator activity later into the growing season.

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