GARDEN CAPSULE
The challenge: You’d like to see some color in your garden the minute the snow melts.
The solution: Plant a trio of small bulbs that bloom in very early spring: Snow crocus (C. chrysanthus), snowdrop (Galanthus), and winter aconite (Eranthis).
The earliest of its species to bloom, snow crocus comes in your choice of yellows, blues, purples, or white. Snowdrops have white, bell-shaped flowers with green markings. Winter aconite is a cheerful buttercup-yellow.
Pluses: Voles and other animal pests usually ignore all of these bulbs. Because they are small bulbs that are planted only 3 or 4 inches deep, you don’t have to dig big holes and can therefore plant a lot in a small
amount of time. They are also relatively inexpensive, compared to large bulbs. The flowers serve as an important early-season food source for pollinators.
Minuses: Crocus, snowdrop and winter aconite are so short that they are slow to show their faces in years with deep snow. Fall is planting time for spring-flowering bulbs; you’ll have to be patient until the time to plant rolls around again.
Sources: You can buy many kinds of spring-flowering bulbs at garden centers in the autumn. For a bigger selection, order from bulbs specialists such as McClure and Zimmerman (800-883-6998, mzbulb.com), or Brent and Becky’s Bulbs (877-661-2852, brentand
beckysbulbs.com).