- There’s a great joy in planting bulbs at this time of year and looking forward to the burst of colour they’ll produce in Spring. It’s also a great opportunity to get children and teenagers involved in gardening - let them pick a combination for pots or a bed - creating their own masterpiece which will come into bloom next Spring.
- With a combination of bulbs you can have flower colour from January right the way through to June - that’s 6 months of colour - simply from bulbs - and they certainly bring a welcome splash of brightness in those early months of the year when not many other flowers are brave enough to show their faces.
- Spring flowering bulbs are very versatile and can be planted in containers or beds and most of them are reliable enough to come back every year
- When planting bulbs, be it in containers or beds, good drainage is a key element for success, so for containers add plenty of stones at the base of the pot and mix up a batch of multipurpose compost with plenty of grit or perlite which will give lovely free draining conditions and your bulbs will thrive
- Planting bulbs in containers is a great way to bring a container to life in Spring and you can plant bulbs in layers - sometimes called lasagne planting - this means that you plant different varieties of bulbs to flower at different times all in the one container and you can play around with wonderful colour combinations and themes. You can plant the very top of the pot with some Winter violas or pansies to give you colour through Autumn and Winter while you await the Spring flowering display.
- Planting bulbs in beds and borders is also a great way to fill gaps in between flowering seasons of shrubs and perennials and I always like to plant in large clusters to create a big impact and as mentioned with a considered selection of bulbs you can have colour for 6 months from January to June from bulbs alone.
- So whether it’s for containers or the ground there’s loads of bulbs to choose from that are easy to grow and very rewarding
A few jobs for the week ahead;
- Get some ground work done in advance of any Autumn planting - be that sowing a wildflower patch or preparing to plant shrubs, trees or hedges - a bit of groundwork preparation done now when soil conditions are good will make the job a lot easier
- Do up new containers with Cyclamen, violas, ivies, capsicums and grasses
- Sow seeds like Aquilegia, Lupins, Calendula and Hollyhock for flowers next Spring and Summer and perhaps prep the ground for sowing some wildflower seeds
- Set your lawn up for the winter with some autumn lawn feed and consider scarifying and aerating the lawn
- Prune lavender once flowering is over to maintain a compact, bushy shape, but avoid cutting into old wood
- Plant blueberry bushes into acid soil or ericaceous compost, perfect for pots - we’ve a great 3 pack of plants that will cross pollinate to give you a great yield of delicious homegrown fruit every Summer & Autumn