Grow bulbs for all seasons

Prima online 14.02.2007

Bulbs are a brilliant way of adding colour to your garden - easy to grow, quick to deliver and cheap!

Daffodils growing out of pots

Bulbs are great because they can be grown in any garden situation - in pots, borders, rock gardens and grass. They burst from the ground, dying back again in the course of just one season, injecting highlights of interest into the garden when more permanent plantings are lacking. Here's a taster to whet your appetite for bulbs year round.

Bulbs for spring: when to plant?
In autumn. Spring bulbs come from cooler climes than the tender bulbs of summer and autumn, and can be planted and left in place to flower every year as they would do in the wild.

Snowdrops are a firm favourite, heralding the beginning of new life after the bleakness of winter. Particularly good for naturalising, large-flowered Galanthus elwesii will form a dense carpet if left undisturbed, enjoying the light shade offered by leafless trees.
Early-flowering Iris reticulata, early daffodil species, snowdrops and winter aconites look wonderful at the front of borders, where they can be admired before herbaceous perennials and deciduous shrubs begin to grow.
Daffodils look best when naturalised in clumps beneath trees and among grass. Their bright colours make them perfect for growing among evergreen rhododendrons, conifers and yew. Try ‘Spellbinder', ‘Carlton' or ‘Golden Harvest'.
A great advantage of crocuses in grass is that their foliage can be mown as little as six weeks after flowering. Crocus tommasinianus and Crocus vernus are particularly good for this purpose.
Later spring gives way to showy double daffodils, including ‘Tahiti' and exquisite ivory ‘Ice King'.
Bold Fritillaria imperialis provides show-stopping early colour for the flowerbed, in bold contrast to its understated cousin F. meleagris (the snake's head fritillary). Choose from orange-red ‘Aurora', bronze-red ‘Rubra' and lemon ‘Lutea', and be rewarded with bold flowers reaching heights of 3ft.
Tulips may mark the end of spring, but they're a beautiful prelude to the colours of summer. My favourites include the long, tapered petals of Tulipa acuminata, the velvet maroon of T. ‘Queen of Night' and the cheerful scarlet of T. ‘Aladdin'.
Other spring bulbs include hyacinths, the Dog's Tooth Violet, muscari and puschkinia.

Bulbs for summer: when to plant?
In spring. Many bulbs we grow for summer flower hail from the warm climates of South Africa, South America and Asia, and this is reflected in their exotic shapes. Easily squeezed into awkward gaps and great for filling spaces in a border without disturbing more permanent plants, summer bulbs add vibrancy, texture and shapely form that can't fail to impress.

Ornamental onions (alliums) flower from late spring to mid-summer. Planted in autumn, these are the exception to the spring-planting rule. Bear in mind that their foliage fades as they flower, so plant them among plants that will cover their withered leaves. The starburst balls of bloom from A. aflatunense are complemented by buttons of deep purple from A. sphaerocephalon.
Best grown with their roots in the shade and their heads in the sun, lilies give spectacular displays. They can be planted between autumn and spring into well-drained, rich soil. Favourites include Lilium regale, L. martagon and L. ‘Enchantment'.
Other summer-flowering bulbs include camassia, crocosmia, eremerus, tigridia and gladioli.

Bulbs for autumn: when to plant?
In summer. Autumn-flowering blooms are a real feature in the garden, beginning to flower as much of the garden has faded away.

Autumn crocuses are much underused, and stunning displays can be produced in grass by naturalising Crocus sativus in its shades of purple, lilac or deep purplish-mauve. Crocuses also have the added bonus of foliage, which helpfully clothes the ground with green through the winter.
Often confused with crocus, colchicums are valuable autumn highlights, too, doing best in moisture-retentive soil. There are plenty to choose from, but for something really special, seek out white forms such as Colchicum autmnale f. album, which positively shines when planted beneath the canopies of trees or at the base of evergreen hedges.
With its crumpled petals of pink, Nerine bowdenii adds autumn punch to tropical gardens, but associates well with the silvers of Mediterranean plantings and looks good when planted in containers.
Glamour can be added by including Amaryllis belladonna in your schemes. Up to six or more stunning trumpet-shaped pink or white blooms are produced on top of purple-tinged stems. These bulbs should be planted in spring in full sun and protected from late spring frosts and winter weather.
Finally, we can't talk about autumn bulbs without a nod to the fantastically flamboyant dahlia. Available in a dazzling array of colours, shapes and sizes, their long flowering season and boldness right at the end of autumn makes them invaluable in the garden at this time of year. Other autumn-flowering bulbs include pineapple flower (eucomis), cyclamen and schizostylis, among others.

Tip: Dry snowdrop bulbs often fail to grow. Instead, buy snowdrops ‘in the green' - you'll have more success if they're planted just after flowering.

Bulbs for winter: when to plant?
As soon as they arrive in autumn. The small collection of winter-flowering bulbs can bring the winter garden back to life. These blooms take advantage of the light let through by leafless tree canopies in order to flower.

Cyclamen coum provides the summer garden with attractive green leaves ambled with silver, but it's in winter when it truly begins to perform, adding vivid splashes of carmine pink to the garden.
January and February also see the arrival of the winter aconite Eranthis hyemalis, ideal for planting under deciduous trees and shrubs.
Great pools of colour can be created with generous groupings of winter-flowering crocus. From late November to late January, see Crocus laevigatus (C. laevigatus ‘Fontenayi' is one of the best), C. angustifolius and C. sieberi ‘Bowles White' bloom. But they are intrepid, too; use robust C. tommasinianus to stud through a winter lawn.

9 top tips to get the best displays all year round

Bulbs generally need to be planted in a hole about three times their size, in well-drained soil. Dig gravel into your planting area if you have heavy, clay-based soil in your garden.
Plant in layers according to bulbs' flowering season and size, planting late-flowering daffs beneath early snowdrops for a double whammy of bloom.
The easiest time to move bulbs is when they've just finished flowering but are still in leaf - this way, you can see what you're doing!
Don't plant bulbs in ground that regularly needs to be dug over. Plants produce the best displays when left to naturalise.
Feed and water established clumps of bulbs after they've finished flowering to ensure a good display for next year.
Bulbs need to have their leaves untouched in order to bulk up a food store to support next year's display.
Stand on bulb planters to save your back and give you control over planting. Use one to cut your holes first, then plant and backfill as you go along.
It may seem obvious, but plant bulbs where you can see them - along paths, at the front of borders, and so on.
Winter- and spring-flowering bulbs should be planted in late summer to early autumn, and summer- and autumn-flowering bulbs are best planted from late spring.

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