September onwards is the perfect time to plan and plant your spring flowering bulbs. Armed with the right information on how to plant and care for them they will flourish year after year giving you a great display of colour in both spring and summer.

The first thing to remember when purchasing your bulbs is to pick out the most healthy ones just like you would when choosing loose onions in a supermarket, reject any that are soft, damaged or discoloured these generally won't do very well.

Planting bulbs is quick and easy although they must be planted at the correct depth and this is dependent on whether you live in an area prone to severe frosts. Ideally, in frost-prone areas plant at 4 to 5 times the bulbs length, elsewhere they can be planted 2-3 times the bulbs length. For extra projection in the winter months place bark chippings or mulch to help insulation.

Daffodils, tulips, crocuses, snowdrops, hyacinths and irises are the most commoningly used bulbous plants and while these are all fantastic there are many other different species which can be grown for colour and impact in the spring. Below we have suggested some alternatives that can be planted now either around the base of a tree, in containers and borders or even within woodland or rockery themed gardens.

Spring Flowering Bulbs:

• A nemones (shown to the right) - grown for their open saucer shaped flowers available in a variety of colours including blue, purple, pink, red, and white.
  
• Fritillaria meleagris and Fritillaria melegris albus both bear beautiful drooping bell-like shaped flowers in pink, pinkish-purple and white. Grows well is moist but well-drained soil.
  
• Eranththis hyemalis (below)- one of the earliest spring flowering bulbs this plant bears buttercup-like, bright yellow flowers.
  
• Camassia leichtlinii - this bulbous perenniel has striking spires of large creamy flowers, also available in blue and purple. The flowers of the camassia are perfect for flower cuttings.
  
• Helleborus - these plants bear flowers from late winter to early spring in white, cream, pink, purple or green. When grown together these make effective display.

For more information on spring flowering bulbs click here.

You'll have to wait a few months before you can start to plant most of the summer flowering bulbs but you can get yourself organised now by looking through a selection of gardening books or taking a visit to your nearest garden centre to get some ideas on which plants you prefer.

For more information and advice on which bulbs to plant, when to plant and how to keep them in tip top condition take a look at our Summer Flowering Bulbs feature.

Don't forget to visit our Plant forLife gardening hints and tips sections.