The whole "spring bulb" and "fall bulb" labels can be confusing. Tulips/Daffodils/Crocus/Hyacinth and the like, for example - planted in the fall, but people generally call them spring bulbs because that's when they bloom. However, the bulbs you see for sale in the fall are the hardy plants that generally want a cold period and will survive the winter and come back year after year, like those I mentioned above. What you see for sale in the spring are the non-hardy bulbs and bulb-like plants that will not survive in the ground over winter, such as Dahlias, Caladiums, Elephant Ears, Glads, Cannas. Some people treat these as annuals, and others lift the roots and store them from year to year, replanting each spring. Of course, as you move further south, eventually you reach a zone for each of these things where it will be hardy outside through the winter, i.e., they will be perennials - for Glads and Cannas, we're probably talking US zone 7, a little further south for the other things mentioned. Still, they are traditionally sold in the spring because the merchants want to cover the whole range of both cold and warm zones with one sales period. The confusion comes because there are a lot of things you see packaged bare-root like bulbs which are for sale in both fall and spring - such as the Astilbe and Bleeding Heart you mention above and lots of other perennials. As you say, the packages look identical with the same contents and one shows fall planting and the other shows spring planting. These are the things that are successfully divided and transplanted any time they are dormant, which is from fall until they start to grow in the spring, so they are sold at both times. Lilies are a true bulb that is also in this category - the bulb never goes completely dormant, so they can put out new roots any time you transplant and will do well either spring or fall planted. As Cranebill mentions above, the best results for any given growing season will come if you get them in during the fall before, but I have always had success with them in the spring. Also, as Cranebill mentions above, if in doubt when spring comes, plant it anyway. The worst that can happen is that it won't grow, which is ASSURED if you don't plant it. - Steve

Freezing for most Spring bulbs isn't the issue. We live in zone 3 and have a wide variety of bulb species and thousands of healthy plants. There are, of course exceptions. Mulching, is most important for Spring bulbs to prevent the bulbs from coming out too early in the Spring. You are in zone 5 and you might get a week or so of summer-like weather in mid March and this followed by a deep freeze. The mulching prevents too much fluctuation in soil temperatures and prevents plants from sprouting above ground in warm periods to be subsequenly zapped. This, of course, isn't the only benefit of mulching but is one reason it's good for the protection of some spring bulbs. Other benefits are moisture preservation, beneficial insect overwintering (ladybugs, etc.)and so on. In general I have found that fritillarias, hyacinths and mid and late tulips benefit most by mulching. Some bulbs like crocus, squills, muscari and early tulips do well if mulched or not. I also heavily mulch alliums and daffodils but don't know how well they do without mulch.

I planted shallots purchased at the feed store last fall.I got huge tops which bloomed but never died down.Finally ,I cut back all the tops in the spring, hoping the bulbs would finally get the message & mature to be harvested.Nope. Since then, I have a whole new crop of green shoots from multiple little unmatured bulbs. They just won't quit. People here use "onion tops" from shallots to sprinkle on gumbo & most everything else. Do I have a mutant Cajun shallot that never matures/develops a papery skin or am I missing something? I've grown onions before, so maybe I'm expecting onion type behavior from shallots.Don't stores sell mature shallot bulbs, though?? The original bulbs I purchased looked like that. I think...

I've planted many perennials, trees, and more in the fall. Great time for there is no harsh, hot and dry summer conditions. Plant wakes up in the spring like it has always been there. You will need to look at only US vendors as I seem to recall this plant is covered by CITES and import/export is strongly controlled. In looking at vendors be sure to look for how they get their plants. I would avoid wild collected over "farmed" plants - no sense in supporting the further depletion of wild plants. FataMorgana