A guide to planting and growing your spring bulbs this autumn.
The 2025 Autumn Gardening Series is supported by Gubba Garden Store.
As the seasons shift from late summer into autumn and the garden begins to wind down, it’s the best time to look ahead and set the groundwork for next spring.
While spring flowers may feel like a distant dream, the work we do in autumn plays a crucial role in bringing them to life. Among the most rewarding tasks is selecting, chilling and planting spring-flowering bulbs — small but powerful packets of potential that will transform a grey, lifeless garden after the winter months.
In this guide, written by our gardening contributor Elly Keen, we’ll walk through everything you need to know, from where to source the best bulbs and which varieties best suit your space. To essential planting techniques, chilling requirements and aftercare tips to ensure a garden popping with joy when spring arrives.
Where to order spring-blooming bulbs
In the autumn time, you will see spring bulbs popping up for sale everywhere online and in the garden centres. There are a range of different suppliers who sell bulbs, and it can really depends on how many you would like to buy which will determine where you source your bulbs from.
If you are interested in starting small, with a pot or two for springtime, then your local garden centre will have everything you need.
But if you are in the market for a larger quantity of bulbs, you will find better deals online with suppliers who sell in bulk, like NZ Bulbs or Bulbs Direct.
Then there are boutique growers who offer specialty spring bulbs and corms. These growers carefully select varieties based on their strength and reliability as a cut flower. If you are interested in growing spring bulbs as cut flowers, then check out retailers such as Gray Floral and Emerden for their range of the most gorgeous ranunculus, anemone, tulips and daffodil bulbs.
What variety of bulbs are best
When it comes to selecting the varieties of bulbs, there are some that are suited more towards growing in pots versus growing in the garden, some that you will treat as annual plants versus perennials, and some that grow better in shade or partial shade versus full sun. When selecting your bulbs, think about the intended growing conditions to find the most suitable candidates.
Bulbs for pots
- Peony tulips ‘Foxtrot’ and ‘Double Price’
- Dwarf daffodils ‘Tete-a-Tete’ and ‘Thalia’
- Hyacinth
- Iris reticulata (aka Dwarf Iris)
Bulbs for cut flowers
- Daffodil ‘Ice Follies’ and ‘Bridal Crown’
- Tulip single ‘Clearwater,’
- Peony tulips ‘Verona’
- Fringed tulip ‘Mascotte’
- Parrot tulip ‘Cabanna’
- Anemone ‘Rosa Chiaro,’ ‘Lavender’ and ‘Bianco’
- Dutch iris
- Ranunculus
Bulbs for naturalising
‘Naturalising’ means planting bulbs with the intention of leaving them in the ground for several years — or even indefinitely — allowing them to multiply naturally and bloom each season. While some bulbs naturalise easily, others are less suited to this approach.
Here are some bulbs that will easily ‘naturalise’ in a New Zealand garden:
- Muscari
- Tulip Darwin hybrid series — eg. ‘Triple A’, ‘Hakuun’ or ‘Pink Impression’
- Daffodil Leucojum (aka Snowflake narcissus)
- Daffodil ‘King Alfred’
Bulbs for shade
- Bluebells
- Crocus
- Convallaria majalis (Lily of the valley)
Please note: depending on your climate zone, some of these bulbs may be more suited to your garden than others. Those in warmer climates may struggle to grow bulbs that require a cold winter.
What to do when your bulbs arrive
Once you have ordered or purchased your bulbs, open the packet straight away and inspect the bulbs to make sure there are no signs of rot or mould. Rot and mould can easily spread to other healthy tulip bulbs, so it is important to promptly remove and bin them. Visually check for signs and give each bulb a nice squeeze — they should be hard and firm, not soft and squidgy.
Once you have inspected your bulbs you can move them into a clean brown paper bag (clearly labelled) and continue to store until planting time.
Prechilling (for tulip bulbs only)
For areas North of Christchurch, it is recommended to prechill your tulip bulbs in the fridge for 6-8 weeks before planting. This period of prechilling mimics the freezing temperatures that tulips require to form long stems that are suitable for cutting. Without this chilling time, you will likely have very stumpy and short tulips. You can start this process of chilling your bulbs from mid March to early April.
To chill your bulbs, it is best to store them in a clean paper bag with a temperature of around 4 degrees Celcius. Care must be taken not to freeze the bulbs, or they will not survive. During this time, do not store fruit in the fridge (or if you must try an airtight container) to protect the bulbs from ethylene gas, which can destroy the forming flower. Periodically check on your bulbs to ensure they are not frozen or developing mould.
If you live South of Christchurch, you can skip this process, as the soil temperature over winter is cold enough.
Tulip ‘Triple A’
When is the right time to plant spring bulbs?
For areas South of Christchurch, you want the longest possible chilling period for tulips to develop long stems. You may also need to get the rest of your spring bulbs in the ground before it hardens or there is snow (if that is your kind of climate). However, waiting until the weather cools is recommended so when you do plant your bulbs, they can begin this ‘chilling’ process immediately. Therefore, planting spring bulbs can begin as early as April through to May, depending on your location.
For our warmer climate areas, you will find after prechilling in the fridge for 6-8 weeks that your tulip bulbs will not be ready to plant out until late May (late autumn). Don’t panic if you see others planting their tulip bulbs earlier. As long as you know you have given your bulbs a period of 6-8 weeks in the fridge, you will be rewarded with quality, long stemmed flowers come spring. The remainder of your spring bulbs can also be planted out around this time (or earlier if preferred) as they don’t require prechilling.
How to plant bulbs in pots
Choose a large pot — something at least 30cm x 30cm is best. Good drainage is one of the most important components with bulbs as they do rot easily. To avoid this, make sure the pot has a few drainage holes, and cover with broken pieces of pottery or pebbles in the base to prevent the holes from becoming clogged with soil.
Choose a specialty bulb potting mix which has all the added nutrients the bulbs will need.
You can plant your bulbs closer in pots than in the garden. Just make sure they are not touching each other or the side of the pot. A good rule of thumb for planting depth is twice the height of the bulb — 0-10cm for smaller bulbs and 10-20cm for larger bulbs.
It’s a good idea to cover the pots with some form of protection from birds or other pests (like rats!) that will dig up the bulbs and eat them. Netting, chicken wire or an upside-down wire basket can work well to deter them.
How to plant spring bulbs in the garden
Select a suitable planting area in the garden for your bulbs — whether that is full sun, partial shade or full shade — and work in a decent amount of organic matter like compost or sheep pellets into the garden soil. If you have heavy clay soil, you may need to add coarse sand or potting mix into the hole to aid drainage. Bulbs like well-drained soil.
To achieve a full look in the garden, plant bulbs in drifts or clusters of 10-25 bulbs — this will give you maximum impact. Most bulbs have a flat end where the roots grow from and a pointed end which is where the flower appears from. Therefore, make sure to plant the pointed end facing upwards.
Like with pots, you want to plant the bulbs at least twice their own depth. Dig a planting hole or trench, and if your soil is heavy clay this is when you can add a 5cm layer of coarse sand or spent potting mix to improve drainage. Position the bulbs at the base, ensuring there is a gap of at least three times the bulb’s width between each one. Cover them with soil, mixing in potting mix if needed. Once planted, water them to help settle them in and remove air pockets.
If you are planting a large number of bulbs in the garden or paddocks, the Sneeboer Great Dixter Bulb Planter is a must. Otherwise try hand tools like this planting trowel or a hori hori.
Watering & fertilising
In the first few weeks, you want to be watering more frequently as the roots are developing — being especially mindful with the pots, not to let the potting mix dry out but also not to be so heavy handed that you rot the bulbs.
Bulbs do not need any fertiliser at planting time. Wait until spring when the growth of the bulb foliage speeds up and flowering is imminent. This is when the bulbs are expending the most energy and will benefit from fertilising to encourage more spectacular blooms. This also helps to form the flowers for next season.
You can use quality seaweed mix, bulb fertiliser or slow-release potash fertiliser.
Picking & aftercare
For most spring bulbs, it is best to leave as much of the foliage as possible when cutting the flowers as this is how the bulb gathers its energy to store over the dormant cold period. Therefore, it is best to be mindful of your expectations for the coming year.
For tulips, most cut flower growers will treat these bulbs as an annual plant, pulling the entire bulb up when harvesting to increase the stem length. But if you would prefer to leave the flowers to enjoy them in the garden, once the flowers fade and seedheads start to form it is important to snip these off quickly, so the bulb does not expend its energy. Leave all the foliage to go brown and die back naturally. This can be difficult for the tidy gardener who wants to clean up an unsightly mess! But, if you want flowers for the following year this is crucial. If you don’t like the look of this, plant seedlings like cosmos, hyssop or Shirley poppies, which will grow quickly and conceal the undergrowth.
Once everything has died back you can go ahead and tidy up before mulching with a quality compost (if in the garden).
For pots, you may choose to lift your bulbs and store over summer. Store in a cardboard box, somewhere cool and dry where they are not exposed to damp.
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Planting spring bulbs is a pretty easy way to bring colour and life to your garden after the winter months. With there is a little planning with choosing different bulbs and the right varieties, and taking time to prepare pots or soil correctly, you will be rewarded with beautiful spring blooms.
Whether you are filling pots on your patio, creating swathes of colour in the garden, or experimenting with growing cut flowers for the garden, bulbs are an easy, reliable way to welcome spring. Plant them in autumn, and let nature take care of the rest.
Daffodil ‘Delnashaugh’
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The Autumn Gardening Series is supported by Gubba Garden Store.
www.gubba.co.nz | @gubbagardenstorenz
