Most of us are familiar with hardy bulbs such as tulips and daffodils, which are planted in the ground in fall, have a period of cold (our winter), and then bloom in the spring. Tender bulbs are planted in the spring and bloom in the summer and autumn. The most popular of those are the gladiolus and the dahlia. Also in this group are canna, caladium, calla lily, tuberous begonia, freesia and ranunculus. All provide lovely flowers or foliage (caladiums), but the down side is that they do not survive in a northern winter. If you'd like to grow glads or any of the other ones mentioned, you have two choices. You can plant them in spring and then dig them up before the frost to save them, OR my preferred method is to let them rot in the ground and buy new bulbs the following spring. It's not as cost efficient, but it is certainly easier. I have to say, the few times that I have dug up the bulbs and tried to save them, I had very poor results. I think the problem was that I stored them in my garage, which does get colder than the recommended 40 degrees. Perhaps I didn't clean and dry them well enough before I put them, with vermiculite, in folded but not sealed paper bags.
I do love glads, which come in an amazing range of colors and are wonderful for arranging, so I buy new bulbs each year and plant them. Be sure to get large, healthy bulbs (solid with no damaged spots) for the best results. Sometimes the plants need to be staked as they tend to be top-heavy once in bloom. The blossoms open on the spike from the bottom to the top and will provide several days of color. Strangely, I have about 5 glads in my front foundation planting that do return year after year. I'm not sure why exactly. Perhaps they are close enough to the house, so the bulbs don't get too cold. Perhaps they were great bulbs or I planted them extra deep. I can't remember as it was many years ago, but each August I will have a few spikes of orange and a few of purple to brighten my front yard.
Great information
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