Plant Bulbs in Pots for Non-Stop Color all Spring and Summer. Containers allow you to plant bulbs more densely than you would in the ground which creates gorgeous Spring Bouquets in your pots that come back year after year, easy and sustainable. Use layers of bulbs to keep flowers going and going over the long-term. Integrate bulbs and plants to keep a beautiful display through the seasons. Here I detail the best way to plant daffodils, tulips, irises and other bulbs in pots for non-stop blooming.

1. Choose your bulbs to keep blooms going continuously

Three things to consider when choosing bulbs:

• Timing of blooms – choose bulbs and plants with different bloom times, to prolong your beautiful blooms
• Animals in your area – you will want animal resistant bulbs if you have deer, rabbits, squirrels, ground hogs, or gophers as garden regulars
• Climate year round – most bulbs love a cold season to be dormant and regenerate, so choose the right bulbs if you have cold seasons or not to increase their sustainability to return year after year

Timing of blooms for non-stop flowers

Nearly all bulbs are well documented about the timing of their blooms. While the exact dates differ by which region you live in, the designations of Early, Mid-Spring, Late-Spring, Summer remain relevant. It is so worth planning the timing of your bouquets, so you keep flowers blooming all year round.

I suggest planting so you get full bouquet after full bouquet of flowers, rather than simply planting only a couple flowers of with various bloom dates. Choose an “Early” bloomer, and lay a full layer of these in your pot to get a full bouquet of color at the earliest bloom. Then plant another layer of mid-Spring flowers that will replace that bouquet with a new one. You can do this with multiple layers of bulbs. For hottest season blooms or coldest season color, you may want to add plants on top in your pot that have their best displays during those times. It is perfect to plant geraniums with bulbs, as they bloom all throughout your hottest months, and in cold weather areas can be winterized extremely easily for safe keeping – blog and video Overwinter Geraniums to learn how.

Daffodils are early blooming bulbs and will provide an early bouquet in your container garden. As daffodils die back, Mid-Spring Tulips bloom in your pots. As the tulips fade, plant or replant geraniums in pots in Spring for flowers all Summer long. Irises provide a lasting transition of beautiful flowers to keep flower color bright between daffodil and tulip bouquet blooms.

Animals in your area

Do you have deer, rabbits, squirrels, ground hogs, gophers or other locals who like to snack on your garden? If you have animals that may get near your plantings, don’t even bother to buy bulbs that are not marked as animal resistant or deer/rabbit resistant. Most bulbs or their flowers will attract animals in search of a delicious meal. Most tulips are simply deer food in my area; the deer barely let the plant grow before it is munched down. Local squirrels and chipmunks love to dig up my shallow bulbs as a tasty treat.

Look for animal resistant varieties of bulbs. Whole families of bulbs are particularly un-interesting to animals, such as daffodils, alliums, lilies irises and any flowers related to the garlic or onion families. These will give you a wonderful selection of colors, sizes and textures, so don’t be fooled into trying bulbs that are not animal resistant if you have wildlife in your area.

Climate year round to choose the right bulbs for your pots

In areas with a cold season with frosts and snow, most bulbs will thrive in your area. Especially hardy and sustainable for you are “Fall Planting” variety of bulbs. These are bulbs that are best planted in Autumn before a cold winter where they have time to bed in and grow strong roots. They then only appear and bloom when the warmth returns. “Spring Planting” bulbs may do likewise, but in places with cold winters, “Spring Planting” bulbs may die off.

Alternatively, if you are in a region that has very little temperature change throughout the seasons, “Fall Planting” bulbs will be a lot of work. You will actually need to freeze or refrigerate them for some time and then plant them in the ground in Spring to fool them into growing. This means, you will need to dig them up every year to again refrigerate them. I prefer sustainability and the ease and naturalness that comes from that. So in these regions, “Spring Planting” bulbs will usually work much better. You can plant them and leave them.

In all cases, choose the bulbs that are right for your area. It will be helpful to know your Plant Hardiness Zone when choosing plants and bulbs. Also, follow any instructions that come with the bulbs, as some may need more protection from cold than others.

2. Design for Impact

Use color blocking for flowers in pots

There is no stronger impact than one color en masse. Have a look at the display of poppies at The Tower of London (below). Perhaps, like me, you don’t live in a fortress. 😀 You can use the same principle though. Plant a group of the same flower together, to make a “color block.” This will draw the eye and make a gorgeous focal point. The size of group will be determined by the size you want to make your flower garden.

For a Pot, you may want to fill the entire pot with one color to make a monochromatic display, to really make that pot a beautiful bouquet. To get this effect, really pack the bulbs in as you plant them. If the instructions are for spacing of 4 inches, half that and plant them 2 inches apart. This will give you the density that is more pleasing in a pot. And in a pot, as the bulbs duplicate and grow, you can easily get to them, to spread the bulbs out in later years, which is much less practical if planting bulbs in a bed.

If you want a little more variety in a pot, still make a strong, dense color in the center, and use the outer edge for coordinating plants.

Choose complementary colors for maximum color impact

To really make your potted flower display “pop” use two complementary colors together. In color theory, complementary colors are those opposite each other on the color wheel (such as yellow with purple). For flowers, another color that really helps emphasize your display is white. So design using contrasting colors or with your favorite flower alongside white. This is a way to use color to your advantage when wanting more than one shade.

Aesthetically in one pot, you may be able to get away with up to three colors (for example, red, white and blue together), but any more than that normally starts to look cluttered and less impactful. Sticking to one or two colors usually will drive the most impact.

If sticking to one color, you can stick to a color theme and diversify your plantings by using analogous colors two adjacent colors from the color wheel. Examples of two adjacent colors are red and pink or yellow and orange. This can help to fill out a single color block to add a bit more contrast. Of course, be careful to choose truly coordinating colors as one false move and you may get clashing tones. This choice takes finesse. I found this great color calculator (by Sessions Design College) online that can help you choose and check colors that are complementary or analogous.

Remember to use timing for non-stop flower blooms

As mentioned in the previous section, timing of blooms is your friend. Remember to plan for non-stop color by using different bulbs or plants that bloom at different times. Choose a full pot full of Early Bloomers (like daffodil bulbs) to make an early impact. Plant them densely and using the design principles above. Those will die out early also, so make sure to have “round two” of blooms ready and already fully planted in the pot. Perhaps combine with Summer blooming flowers. In the video below, you will see how I plant an early blooming bouquet, and mid-Spring bouquet, and then have Summer-Autumn blooming geraniums all together in one pot. This keeps non-stop blooms from the last frost through the first frost (March through September without a break in flowers).

With your timing approach, consider if you want transitional flowers. These will be ones that are in bloom while the larger bouquets are coming in or going out. For example, in the video below, I use Early Royal Dwarf Iris as a longer lasting transitional flower. It will come up with the early Daffodils, as the daffodils fall back and Tulips germinate, they will remain. They will stick around as the Tulips are in their full glory before they fall back. I use the Tulips at their best, as a time to replant winterized geraniums, so those plants have time to fill out their leaves and grow blooms when the Tulips fall back. It is a perfect synergy! Try it; you won’t be disappointed.

This video shows you how to choose, design, prepare and plant bulbs and plants to keep non-stop color going using layers of bulbs that bloom at different times.

3. Implement for Success

A durable pot or planter for your bulbs

For outdoor planters, choosing a pot to survive the conditions is fundamental. In areas that freeze or snow, ceramic, porcelain, concrete and some stone planters can crack or chip. Metal or plastic tend to endure freezing better. For large planters, I prefer foam since they are light and durable for all conditions. Main point is to have a pot that will endure the outdoor conditions year round in your area, and make sure it has proper drainage. Drainage is key, so make sure there are holes at the bottom of the pot and that you build up some rocks around the base of the pot, to encourage drainage of water and not lose your soil.

Enriched soil and/or fertilizer to ensure your pots burst with flower color

Critical to success are the nutrients that feed your flowers. Using your own compost is ideal, and buying garden soil, flower soil, bulb soil or potting soil are great options. All soil can be further enhanced by a bit of fertilizer added at the time of planting, under the roots. For bulbs, I prefer to use Bulb Fertilizer or Kelp Meal.

Healthy bulbs and/or plants in your pots

And most importantly, have healthy bulbs and plants. When planting bulbs, plant them at the depth directed (normally about 3 times the height of the bulb of soil placed above the bulb). Add soil under the bulb. Place it pointed end up. And plant at the right distance for the conditions.

The distance for a pot can be denser than the instructions suggest. The instructions that come with bulbs normally assume you are planting outdoors in a garden bed. They allow room for the bulbs to naturalize and spread over the years. So use the instructions for any planting in the ground. In a pot, you can halve the distance (for example, bulbs slated to be planted 4 inches apart can be put 2 inches apart in pots). Why is this? The answer is three-fold. 1. In a pot, you want density to really make a strong bouquet statement. 2. You are providing a lot of focused nutrients in a pot, so the bulbs will have the sustenance they need to thrive. 3. You are easily able to get back into pots and take out some bulbs in a couple years to avoid over-crowding.

Enjoy your non-stop show of flower bouquets in your pots! Just remember to:

1. Choose your bulbs (and plants, if appropriate) to keep blooms going continuously
2. Design for impact
3. Implement for success

Now, What’s Next?

Try planting bulbs in your yard to add color and focal points. Try making a featured bulb flower garden around a tree to make your landscape “pop”. Or plant perennial naturalizing bulbs en masse for striking impact on slopes, in woodlands, or in formal gardens.

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