Spring Gardening article

It’s fantastic to see that spring is on its way and the long days of winter are nearly over. Spring is a very exciting and busy time in the garden. It starts when the Galanthus Elwesii, (better know as the snowdrop) pop up. These are best bought in pots in springtime, as buying as a bulb in the preceding autumn does not always guarantee a good show. When bought in a pot one can see how many flower heads there are. Crocus are another early riser in spring time, and these can be planted as bulbs in autumn or bought as sprouting plants in spring time. . Hyacinthoides non-scripta, our English Bluebell, is an old favourite too. Muscari, the Grape Hyacinth, is less well know but gives a fantastic show of bright blue. Muscari also looks fabulous mixed with some greenery for an indoor spring basket, especially as a Mothering Sunday present. Muscari, when planted in the garden, is easy to grow and spreads quite freely. It also has a slight perfume. After these earlier spring bulbs the Narcissus (daffodils) and Tulipa pop up. There are so many different varieties of Narcissus, however one of my favourites is the shorter daffodil ‘Tete a Tete’ which will tolerate lots of wind and snow and still stand upright. My favourite Tulipa is the little dwarf variety Red Riding Hood, which has striped leaves giving a beautiful contrast against the bright red flower heads. This dwarf variety of tulipa is not crushed by wind or snow. If you buy bulbs in pots in spring they can be sat on the window ledge in the kitchen if you fancy them inside for a splash of colour. You can then put the bulbs back in the garden to flower again next year. Make sure you plant the daffodils about 25cm down to avoid disturbance when planting summer bedding.

Whilst admiring the spring bulbs that are in the garden giving an array of colour, one needs to think about planting bulbs for summer flowering. There are a myriad of summer flowering bulbs. There are many different types of perennial bulbs, corms and tubers that can be put in now and will flower in the summer coming back every year. Popular perennial bulbs are Paeonia, which have wonderful large rose-like flower heads, Astilibe in all sorts of colours, Anemone, Agapanthus, and Iris; the list is endless. I am very fond of Lilies which flower year after year, they come in all shapes and sizes with most being perfumed. They make great cut flowers as well as providing garden colour. My favourite Lilly is ‘Star Gazer’ which has huge very strongly perfumed flower heads of white with pink stripes. Other popular summer tubers and Corms are begonias. Care is needed as they need protection in the winter. However, this care is rewarded as they give wonderful continuous flower throughout the summer, and are ideal for tubs and baskets. Another favourite are Dahlia which tend to come in the late summer which prolongs the colour splash! So time to get organised and work out a plan to fill in some of those gaps in the garden with bulb colour!

Written by Emma Horsfield