By garden designer Andrew Fisher Tomlin. Plan now for a splash of Spring colour!
I realised how quickly the growing season had gone by when I visited a local nursery and found the owners stocking up with Spring bulbs. Yes it's bulb planting time again!
I have to say that I'm a big fan of Spring bulbs in particular.
They are the one sure way of getting
really early colour into your garden. Plants such as Narcissus February Gold do
what they say on the packet, consistently flowering in early
February and sometimes even in January. You can plant a whole range
of varieties of daffodil to get flowers right through to May. If
you don't believe me then plant some Narcissus Pheasants Eye - I
had them flowering in my garden in Chelsea week at the end of May
last year.
For many
people bulbs seem an inconvenience. If the thought of getting down
on your knees and digging endless small holes to plant the same
thing time after time fills you with dread then just think what
you'll be missing come the new year. You can understand how easy it
is to avoid planting them but you'll regret it come Spring when
your neighbours' gardens are blooming with yellows of Narcissus,
the blues of Chinodoxa and, best of all, the pure white of Snowdrops.
Ah! The Snowdrop. The perfect flower to lift your spirits in the coldest and darkest part of the Winter. Imagine clumps of strappy leaves with nodding heads of white, creamy white, even white tinged with green. The double headed Galanthus nivalis Flore Pleno is a robust double headed variety that I use every year. However, I don't grow them from dry bulbs but buy them "in the green" in February/March from a wonderful nursery in Scotland. They are the only bulb that I'd recommend you wait to plant, be patient and this way they'll establish much easier than the ordinary dry bulb.
So
what else should you try? Well as much as I love big swathes of
crocus coming
through the lawn I've found that they are consistently destroyed by
birds and squirrels. It's almost like the squirrels are watching me
plant them and then dig down just an inch or two to eat them. You
can go to elaborate methods of planting by laying chicken wire over
the top of the bulb, then topsoil and re-seeding but even for me
that's going a bit far!
For
something a little more unusual I love Snakeshead Lillies Fritillaria meleagris. They look
great in the border but also plant some in a pot so that you can
get right up close and see their amazing shapes and colours.
The main problem with bulbs is that they can rot off in the
ground if the soil is too wet - something we've got used to in
August this year. Bulbs like reasonably dry conditions and if
you've got a sandy, free draining soil they'll love it. Two of the
best bulbs for this type of soil are Cyclamen and
Tulips. Cyclamen coum pallidum
'Album' is the most fantastic clear white flower and despite it's
name is also a very simple form and easy to grow. Readers near
Wimbledon Common with its dry soil will find them very easy to grow
in relatively un-cultivated soils. Tulips are also a must have.
They are perfect for pots, especially the parrot tulips such as
Tulipa Texas Flame and for borders I always find that the Darwin
hybrids such as Tulipa Apeldoorn and Tulipa Apeldoorn's Elite will
come back year after year.
For a truly stylish planting grow only white specimens of Snowdrops, Narcissus such as the saucer sized Narcissus Mount Tacoma and Tulips such as Tulipa Swan Wings against a backdrop of greens. On the smallest scale try these in a trough with a simple box plant.
And finally a little tip about dying daffodil leaves. They look untidy but you shouldn't cut them back, tie them up or lift the plants. Let them die down naturally but plant amongst ferns and the new fronds of the ferns will disguise the dying leaves of the daffodils in no time at all.
Some great bulbs to look out for:
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