Colorful Carpet Mix

The Colorful Carpet Mix originated in the backyard of our Dutch supplier, who wanted to plant a shady, root-filled area with a variety of small bulbs. He was fretting over a design when inspiration struck: Why not save time and effort by putting 4 or 5 different bulbs in each planting hole? The white, pink, blue, and yellow stars, bells, and goblets that appeared the following spring were magical, and because the bulbs increase by offsets or self-sowing, the display gets better every year. Includes Anemone blanda, Galanthus, Hyacinthoides, Ipheion, Puschkinia, Chionodoxa, Crocus, Muscari, and Allium moly for easy-care color from late winter to early summer. You'll see a joyful succession of flowers, from the earliest Snowdrops and Species Crocus to the Spanish Bluebells and Lily Leek (Allium) of late spring. Although bloom times can vary widely because no two springs are the same, the bulbs will bloom generally in the following sequence beginning in early spring: Galanthus, Crocus, Chionodoxa, Puschkinia, Ipheion, Anemone blanda, Muscari, Hyacinthoides, and Allium moly. Most are under 8" tall. Not labeled. 100 bulbs cover 9–10 sq ft.

This mix is not labeled by individual variety. It is intended to make a carpet of overlapping colors, although if you wish to plant groups of the same variety together, the bulbs and corms look different enough so that you should be able to sort them.

These bulbs and corms are quite small and should be planted only 2-3" deep. Plants have a greater impact when spaced 2" apart, but this is not a hard and fast rule. You can plant them in any arrangement you wish. A hand trowel easily scoops out a planting hole that holds about 5, but you can quickly dig a trowel into the ground and pop a single bulb in, or plant in any sized group, between perennials, along a walk, or in the grass.

Diminutive grassy foliage sets off the flowers. Foliage browns and melts away without making a mess, and disappears completely under the emerging foliage of perennials. If you just leave them alone - don't deadhead or cut back - these plants will often self-sow, popping up charmingly in unexpected places and increasing over the years.