Tulip time

You can never have too many tulips. Their flamboyant colours are wide ranging - from snow white through rich yellow, orange, pink and scarlet to the deepest purple. It can seem like a long wait until the first varieties appear in the garden in March but if you want to enjoy their jewel-like beauty earlier it is possible to force them in pots indoors.

A posy of cut tulips makes a pretty present. Arrange them in mixed colours in your hand, folding back some of the leaves and tucking them in between the flowers as you go. Tie with rough garden twine or raffia or put them into a vintage watering can or pail or a wooden half barrel.

It is best to condition the flowers beforehand by cutting the stalks and leaving them, wrapped tightly in a sheet of newspaper, in a bucket of cold water for a few hours.

Tulips bend and grow in the vase if they have deep water to drink. If you prefer to keep them small, so that you can enjoy the flowerheads at close quarters, condition them as before, then cut the stems short and arrange them in shallow water, supported by a twiggy framework made up of criss-cross sticks bound with garden twine placed over a pan or bowl.