September Is Bulb-Planting Season at the Great American Estate

Before the ground hardens for winter, groundskeepers across the country's finest properties are turning to a modest task: putting spring's flowering bulbs in the earth now. The window is narrow—soil that is still workable in September closes fast once the first hard frost sets in. It is unglamorous work, done low and early, but it is what makes a spring garden arrive on schedule. The payoff shows up months from now, in bloom, long after anyone remembers the planting.

With reporting from Veranda.