Every spring there is a moment, usually sometime in April, when you walk past a garden absolutely exploding with tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths and feel a pang of something between admiration and envy. You make a mental note. Next year, you tell yourself. Next year my garden will look like that.
Here is the thing about that moment: the gardener who created it did their work in autumn. The tulips blooming gloriously in April were planted quietly and without fanfare in October, when everyone else had packed up their gardening gloves and moved on to thinking about other things. Spring gardens are built in fall. And fall bulb planting season begins right now.
August and September are the time to choose, order, and purchase your spring bulbs before the best varieties sell out at garden centres across Ontario. The actual planting happens in September and October once soil temperatures have cooled sufficiently, but the planning and purchasing decisions made right now determine what your garden looks like next April, May, and June. Get this right and you will be the garden that stops people in their tracks next spring.
Why Fall Is the Only Time to Plant Spring Bulbs
Spring flowering bulbs like tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are biologically programmed to require a period of cold temperatures before they can flower. This cold period, called vernalization, triggers the hormonal changes inside the bulb that allow it to produce roots through autumn, go dormant through winter, and emerge and bloom in spring. Without that cold period, the bulb simply will not flower no matter how carefully it is planted or tended.
In Zone 6a Ontario, the ground provides exactly the cold period spring bulbs need. Planted in October into cooling soil, bulbs root through autumn before the ground freezes, rest through the cold of a GTA winter, and wake up in March and April when warming soil temperatures trigger growth. The result is the spectacular spring display that seems to appear almost magically after the grey months of winter.
This is why spring bulbs cannot be planted in spring and why the window to act is right now, in late summer and early autumn, before the planting season passes.
When to Actually Plant Your Bulbs
Timing Is Everything for Zone 6a
Purchasing and planting are two different steps in the bulb gardening calendar and understanding the difference prevents one of the most common bulb planting mistakes in Ontario gardens.
Purchase and order your bulbs now, in August and September, while selection is at its widest and the best varieties are still available. The specialty varieties—the deepest purple tulips, the most fragrant daffodils, and the showiest allium globes—sell out at garden centres consistently before October arrives. Buying early guarantees you get the varieties you actually want rather than whatever is left.
Plant your bulbs in October, once soil temperatures have dropped to consistently below 10 degrees Celsius at planting depth. In Zone 6a Ontario, this typically happens between mid-September and mid-October, depending on the year. Planting too early in warm soil can trigger premature top growth that is then killed by frost, wasting the bulb's energy and potentially preventing spring bloom. Planting in properly cooled soil gives bulbs the best possible start.
A simple soil thermometer purchased at your local garden centre is the most reliable way to know when conditions are right. No thermometer? A consistently cool soil that feels cold rather than warm to the touch at 10 centimetres depth is your practical guide.
The Best Spring Bulbs for Zone 6a Ontario Gardens
Tulips
The undisputed star of the spring garden
Tulips are the most planted spring bulb in Ontario and for good reason. Few plants deliver the same combination of bold colour, elegant form, and sheer visual impact as a well-planted tulip display in April and May. They come in virtually every colour except true blue, in single- and double flowered forms, fringed and parrot varieties, and heights ranging from 20 centimetres to over 60 centimetres.
Choosing varieties for a longer bloom season:
Different tulip varieties bloom at different times through spring. Early-flowering varieties like single early and double early tulips bloom in late April. Mid-season varieties, including Triumph and Darwin hybrid tulips, follow in early to mid May. Late-flowering varieties like parrot, fringed, and lily-flowering tulips extend the season into late May and even early June. Planting a mix across all three timing categories gives you six to eight weeks of continuous tulip colour from a single bed rather than one spectacular but short-lived flush.
Planting depth and spacing:
Plant tulip bulbs 15 to 20 centimetres deep, measured from the base of the bulb, and 10 to 15 centimetres apart. Deeper planting in Zone 6a is generally better since it protects bulbs from freeze-thaw damage and, critically, makes them significantly harder for squirrels to dig up. Place bulbs with the pointed end facing upward.
Perennial performance in Zone 6a:
Tulips are technically perennial, but many hybrid varieties perform best in their first and second years and decline in subsequent seasons. For reliably perennial performance, choose species tulips like Tulipa tarda or Darwin hybrid varieties, which perennialize most successfully in Ontario conditions. Deadhead spent flowers immediately but allow foliage to die back naturally so the bulb can recharge for the following year.
Daffodils
The deer and squirrel proof spring classic
Daffodils are the most reliable and carefree spring bulb available to Ontario gardeners for one simple and deeply practical reason: squirrels, deer, rabbits, and virtually every other garden-raiding animal will not touch them. Daffodil bulbs contain toxic alkaloids that make them unpalatable to virtually all wildlife, which means every daffodil bulb you plant in October will still be in the ground and blooming in April without any protective measures whatsoever.
Beyond their wildlife resistance, daffodils are genuinely perennial in Zone 6a, returning and multiplying reliably year after year without any lifting or intervention. A patch of daffodils planted today will be significantly larger and more spectacular five years from now than it is in its first spring.
Variety selection for Zone 6a:
Classic large-cupped and trumpet daffodils like King Alfred and Dutch Master are the most reliable perennials in Ontario conditions. For something different, try split corona varieties for an exotic frilled look, double-flowered varieties for a peony-like effect, or miniature varieties like Tete-a-Tete for container planting and the front of borders.
Planting depth and spacing:
Plant daffodil bulbs 15 to 20 centimetres deep and 10 to 15 centimetres apart. Like tulips, deeper planting produces more reliable performance in Zone 6a. Allow foliage to die back completely after flowering before cutting it since the leaves are recharging the bulb for next year's display.
Alliums
The architectural statement of the late spring garden
Alliums, the ornamental members of the onion family, are having a well-deserved moment in Ontario gardens and once you grow them you will understand why immediately. Their perfectly spherical flower heads in shades of purple, violet, white, and pink, held on tall straight stems above the foliage, create a dramatic, almost otherworldly effect in the late spring garden that no other bulb can replicate.
Alliums bloom later than tulips and daffodils, typically in May and June in Zone 6a, bridging the gap between spring and summer colour beautifully. Their seed heads remain decorative and structural in the garden long after the flowers have faded, providing interest well into summer and feeding birds through winter if left standing.
Best varieties for Zone 6a:
Allium giganteum produces the most spectacular globe, up to 15 centimetres in diameter on stems reaching 90 centimetres or more. Allium Purple Sensation is a slightly smaller but equally beautiful deep violet variety that performs particularly reliably in Ontario conditions. Allium christophii produces a large, star-shaped globe with excellent staying power as a dried seed head.
Planting depth and spacing:
Plant large allium bulbs 15 to 20 centimetres deep and 20 to 30 centimetres apart. Smaller allium varieties can be planted 10 centimetres deep and 15 centimetres apart. Alliums are largely ignored by squirrels due to their onion scent, making them a reliably squirrel-resistant choice for Ontario gardens.
Hyacinths
The most fragrant bulb in the spring garden
If you want fragrance in your spring garden, hyacinths are the non-negotiable choice. A single hyacinth in full bloom can scent an entire garden bed and its perfume drifting through a cool April morning is one of the most memorable sensory experiences the spring garden offers. They come in a beautiful range of colours including deep purple, pink, white, blue, and red, with dense cylindrical flower spikes that last two to three weeks in bloom.
Hyacinths are excellent container bulbs and work beautifully in pots near entrances and doorways where their fragrance can be appreciated up close. They are also reliable performers in garden beds in Zone 6a, though they tend to produce slightly smaller flower spikes in their second and third years compared to their spectacular first-year bloom.
Planting depth and spacing:
Plant hyacinth bulbs 15 centimetres deep and 15 to 20 centimetres apart. In containers, plant bulbs with their tips just below the soil surface for maximum impact.
Crocuses
The first colour of spring
Crocuses are the heralds of spring in an Ontario garden, appearing often while snow is still visible and temperatures are barely above freezing, in shades of purple, yellow, white, and striped varieties that feel genuinely miraculous after a long GTA winter. They are small and delicate individually, but planted in generous drifts of 20 or more, they create a spectacular early-season carpet of colour that no other spring plant can deliver at the same time of year.
Large-flowered Dutch crocuses bloom slightly later than species crocuses and produce bigger, bolder flowers. Species like Crocus tommasinianus naturalize beautifully in Ontario lawns and garden beds, spreading gradually over the years into larger and larger drifts that require no intervention or maintenance.
Planting depth and spacing:
Plant crocus corms 8 to 10 centimetres deep and 7 to 10 centimetres apart. For a naturalized lawn effect, scatter corms randomly across the area and plant them where they land for the most convincingly natural result.
The squirrel problem with crocuses:
Squirrels dig and eat crocus corms enthusiastically, particularly yellow-flowered varieties. Plant crocuses deeper than recommended, cover newly planted areas with wire mesh laid flat on the soil surface and covered with mulch until the ground freezes, or choose Crocus tommasinianus, which squirrels find less palatable than Dutch hybrid varieties.
Muscari (Grape Hyacinth)
The easiest and most reliable spring bulb available
Muscari, commonly called grape hyacinth for its clusters of tiny deep blue-purple bells, is arguably the most reliable and foolproof spring bulb available to Ontario gardeners. It naturalizes aggressively in Zone 6a, spreading year after year into larger and denser clumps with zero intervention, and provides the most intense true blue colour available in the spring garden.
Muscari blooms in mid spring alongside late tulips and early alliums, and the combination of its deep blue with yellow daffodils or purple tulips is one of the most celebrated colour combinations in spring garden design. It is also largely squirrel-resistant and completely deer-resistant, making it one of the most carefree bulbs in the Ontario garden.
Planting depth and spacing:
Plant muscari bulbs 8 to 10 centimetres deep and 5 to 8 centimetres apart. For the most impactful display, plant in generous drifts of 25 or more bulbs rather than small scattered groups.
The Lasagna Planting Method: Maximum Spring Colour From One Bed
The single most impactful design technique for spring bulb gardening is the lasagna planting method, also called layered planting, and it is simpler than it sounds. Rather than planting a single type of bulb at a single depth in a bed, you plant multiple bulb varieties at different depths in the same space, creating a layered underground structure that produces a continuous sequence of blooms from early spring right through to early summer from a single garden bed.
Here is how to build a lasagna planting for a Zone 6a Ontario garden:
Dig your bed to a depth of 25 to 30 centimetres. At the deepest level, place your largest late-flowering bulbs like alliums and large tulips at 20 centimetres depth. Cover with 5 centimetres of soil. At the next level, place mid-season tulips and daffodils at 15 centimetres depth. Cover with another 5 centimetres of soil. At the shallowest level, place crocuses, muscari, and small early bulbs at 8 to 10 centimetres depth. Cover with soil and mulch.
Each layer blooms in sequence from early spring through late spring, with later layers emerging through the fading foliage of earlier ones. The result is a bed that looks spectacular for eight to ten weeks rather than two to three and that uses your planting space far more efficiently than single-layer planting ever could.
Protecting Your Bulbs From Squirrels
Squirrel predation on newly planted bulbs is one of the most common and most frustrating problems for Ontario gardeners and there is no single solution that works perfectly in every situation. Here is a practical toolkit of strategies that work in combination.
Plant daffodils, alliums, muscari, and fritillaries as your primary bulbs since these are all reliably squirrel-resistant due to their taste or scent. Reserve tulips and crocuses for areas where you can provide some protection.
Lay wire mesh or hardware cloth directly on the soil surface over newly planted bulb areas and cover with mulch. Remove the mesh in spring once shoots emerge. This is the single most reliable physical barrier against squirrel digging.
Apply a squirrel deterrent product to the soil surface after planting. Products containing predator urine or hot pepper compounds are available at garden centres and provide genuine deterrence, particularly if applied consistently after rain through the autumn planting period.
Plant bulbs deeper than the minimum recommended depth in Zone 6a. Squirrels typically dig 8 to 10 centimetres down. Tulip bulbs at 20 centimetres are significantly safer than tulips at 15 centimetres in a squirrel-dense suburban Ontario garden.
Your Spring Garden Starts This Weekend
Every spectacular spring garden you have ever admired was built by someone who made a decision in autumn to do the work that nobody sees. The planting is quiet and unassuming. The payoff is extraordinary.
The best bulb varieties at Lakeside Garden Gallery are available now and will not last through the season. Stop by and let our team help you choose the right combination of bulbs for your space, your soil, your sun exposure, and the spring display you have been imagining. We can help you build a lasagna planting plan, choose squirrel-resistant varieties, and select a bloom sequence that gives you colour from the first warm days of April right through to June.
Your April garden is waiting to be planted. Come in and let us help you build it. 🌷🌼🌸