Published by Chrysalis Books Group and written by Rod Leeds, Autumn Bulbs provides a glimpse into the often ignored treasures of the autumn garden.
Gardeners are always looking for creative ways to extend the flowering season in their landscape and this book, Autumn Bulbs, puts information on how to do that at their fingertips by exploring the world of fall blooming bulb plants.
History of Autumn Blooming Bulbs in Common Cultivation
As Autumn Bulbs was written in partnership with Alpine Garden Society, the history section of the book helps gardeners understand the types of climates and situations from which the plants originated. With autumn blooming bulbs some confusion has been around about exact classification and the book does a good job of explaining how the names came about.
Cultivating Autumn Blooming Bulbs
Autumn Bulbs is a British book but gardeners in the United States should have no problem understanding the growing directions given by Leeds. He discusses not only how to grow tender autumn bulbs in pots or greenhouses, but also covers raised beds, planting bulbs in the garden, and naturalizing bulbs in open spaces. Several tips for growing autumn bulbs successfully are given making it easy for gardeners to try their hand at growing bulbs that bloom in the fall, as well as the more familiar spring-blooming bulbs.
Combining Plants and Autumn Bulbs
This is only touched on briefly in Autumn Bulbs and many gardeners might wish for a bit more detail on what bulbs combine well with what other plants since designing a garden can be one of the more difficult things for amateur gardeners. The information that is provided is very helpful for pairing plants in such a way that autumn blooming bulbs are shown off to the fullest potential.
Autumn Bulb Genus and Species Information
Autumn Bulbs goes into the main portion of the book and discusses over over 30 plant genera that have fall flowers and gives more detailed information. Sometimes this information is little more than a single species available for home gardening, but most of the time Autumn Bulbs shares not only many species available, but also details named cultivars and specific growing information. For example, the genus Colchicum has over 25 pages devoted to explaining the various species and cultivars as well as differences in how they are grown and what garden situations are best suited for them.
The photography is beautifully presented and the careful naming of the individual plants will be helpful when a gardener wants to purchase a bulb described in the book. All in all, Autumn Bulbs is for any gardener who enjoys rare or unusual plants or wishes to prolong the bulb flowering season.
