|
Spring Bulbs-part 2Whilst this time of year is an excellent opportunity to study the variety of bulbs we like the look of, it is of course the wrong time to be buying or planting them! Most garden centres get their stocks of bulbs in for sale in September and the window for planting bulbs is between autumn and winter. It is also possible to buy bulbs online or by mail order, they are even available in the ubiquitous supermarkets these days. Bulbs may be bought individually or in bags I suggest you to go for either option depending on the job in hand but I normally like to buy bulbs from a visible source but this is just based on my own experience. It would be interesting to hear what success readers have had with bulbs bought in bulk online or hidden in packaging. Register for FREE if you have not already registered and then click HERE to create a NEWTOPIC and tell us about your some of your favorites?
Bulbs can be grown in the ground or in containers. The best way to plant them is to use grit around the bulb in heavier soils, create a hole in the soil and place the bulb about 2 1/2 times down in the soil to the height of the bulb. Whilst stating the obvious, make sure it is the right way up (think of an onion, the stem part to the top). You can choose whether to plant the bulbs singly or in clusters, Clusters usually have the greatest colour impact and I would suggest groups of about 5 for the standard size daffodils or tulips, or 10 for smaller plants such as snowdrops or miniatures daffodils, etc. Generally they look more natural in clusters. At the end of this flowering season you will need to decide whether you will leave the bulbs in the ground or take them up for re-planting in the autumn. Some people cut the leaves and stems down, I would not recommend this because it is best to just dead head them an leave the foliage to die back naturally which in turn encourages the bulbs to re-energise for next year. The factors that will help you decide whether to take up the bulbs are whether they are in the right place for future schemes, or if they are the wrong height or colour for you in their current position and last but not least the effort involved and suitable bulb storage . The ideal way to store bulbs is to identify them while they are still flowering and then you can lift them from your identified areas once they are beginning to die back naturally a month or two after flowering. Keep them in a dark, cool and dry place. Turning now to my recommendations for varieties of spring bulbs, please remember that this is a huge area and so I can only pick out a few of my favourites, since there are approximately 1,600 different varieties of daffodils alone to choose from! Daffodils As I have noted, there are hundreds of varieties with a whole host of sizes and colours to choose from. Do you want tall ones at the back of an area or shorter ones to provide colour at the front of the bed, early or late flowering? Tall flowers--- Narcissus Mount Hood, creamy white flowers.
Narcissus Kingscourt, classic golden yellow.
Narcissus Vulcan, yellow with orange middle Shorter flowers--- Narcissus February Gold very golden
Narcissus Jack Snipe white and yellow
Narcissus Hawera Pale yellow Other choices incude some especially fragrant varieties such as Narcissus Paper White which can flower in the winter with its dainty pure white flowers. It needs a greenhouse in the winter ideally and there are other varieties with unusual flower shapes, for example Narcissus cyclamineus . Flowers with double clusters include varieties such as White Lion which gives a lovely ruffled appearance of yellow and white. Part three will look at some of the other spring bulbs we can choose from....... |
