Bulbs to Plant Now – for a Riot of Colour Next Year

One of my favourite sights is Spring bulbs coming through. It’s such an uplifting thing. It tells you that the murky Winter weather is now behind you, and it’s going to be onwards and upwards in the garden. But you must do the groundwork for that early burst of Spring colour in September through to November with bulb planting. So I thought I’d cover off some of the classic bulbs to plant now in Autumn.

Crocuses

To be technically correct, Crocuses are actually corms not bulbs. But the bottom line is that Spring flowering crocuses are planted in Autumn. Some say ideally by the end of September, though I’ve definitely been a bit later than this! They come in white, purple and yellow and flowering in February to April provide an early essential meal for honeybees.

You can plant crocuses in pots, at the front of borders or in grass. But wherever you plant them they like moist free draining soil, so if you’re putting them in pots use a good bit of grit in with your compost (peat free of course).

I have mine in the grass under two trees – an Apple tree and an Ash. If you’re going to do this the trees need to be deciduous (lose their leaves in Autumn) as the vast majority of crocuses like sunlight, though Crocus gargaricus can cope with a bit of shade apparently.

I only planted the colony under my Ash tree this time last year. But already my hunch is it’s going to be more successful. This is because it gets more sun, thanks to the tree’s canopy being much smaller than my sprawling Apple tree. The crocuses under my Apple tree look lovely and colourful, but they seem to flop over quite easily. I think it’s because they don’t get quite enough sun.

Planting Crocuses

As with most bulb planting, you plant crocus corms with the pointy side facing up. Plant them at a depth that is three times the height of the bulb.

Last year I treated myself to a bulb planting gadget as I was set to do an awful lot of bulb planting. But for crocuses I actually use the turf lifting technique. I cut three sides of a large oblong in the grass. This is to a depth that’s at least three times the depth of the corms. I then lift the flap of turf and scatter the bulbs. I of course upright the bulbs to ensure they’re pointy side up, but I don’t adjust where they’re positioned. That’s because the scattering ensures a more natural look. Trust me, if you don’t do this, even if you try to be random, your bulbs will look too regimented.

Turf lifting and scattering is also a reasonably quick way to plant quite a lot of bulbs. This is a key consideration if you’ve hundreds of the blighters to plant in your lawn! However, last year I stupdily didn’t think how unnatural the bare gaps between my flaps of lifted turf would look. So I’m remedying that this year, by planting randomly between the gaps.

Snowdrops

Another of my classic bulbs to plant is snowdrops. They’re one of the absolute beauties of an early Spring garden. I love them and have great colonies in my semi-shaded bed towards the bottom of my garden. I also have some under my Beech tree.

Last year, when dividing my clumps I used this as an opportunity to also pop some under my Cherry tree. This is next to my patio. So I’m hoping that they will have settled in successfully and I’ll have some lovely snowdrops in view as I sip my morning cuppa!

You can grow snowdrops from bulbs. The experts say this is tricky and instead recommend planting them ‘in the green.’ This means after flowering but when they still have leaves. I have to say I do agree with them. However, I have plenty which I’ve grown from bulbs. So if you’re in the mood to have a go I would! They should be planted in October or November.

Snowdrops like dappled shade and can be grown in any spot that’s moist but well drained. If your soil is claggy add some grit or sand as what you’re trying to recreate is a dappled woodland setting, which is where they thrive naturally.

I really wouldn’t bother growing them in pots. I personally think it’s a waste of a good pot and a good snowdrop! Also, you’ve got to ensure they don’t dry out in the Summer at all – but not rot them either. That’s quite a tricky balancing act to pull off if they’re in a pot. Whereas if you have them in the ground, clever old nature takes care of that for you!

Bulbs to Plant – Dare to be Different!

To me a snowdrop is a snowdrop. I’m a philistine, I admit it! However, you could always go to a specialist nursery and treat yourself to a few of the more unusual varieties and get a bit of a rarer collection of snowdrops going.

Daffodils

When compiling my list of bulbs to plant in Autumn I had to include some daffodils. Although I live in the Cotswolds now, I hail from Wales, where they are the national flower. So I am understandably very fond of them.

Daffodils are a top plant in many ways. They are joyously cheerful looking and come in all sorts of shapes and colours. They continue to perform year after year with little trouble. Added to all this, they are versatile. They look lovely in pots, under trees, and because they’re taller they also work dotted across borders. If you’ve a lawn I also like them naturalised in grass.

You can get shorter varieties such as Narcissus Minnow, February Gold and Peeping Tom for naturalising in shorter grass. Or if you want one with a yellow inner and white petals, Jack Snipe is a beauty.

There are also lovely daffodils for longer grass such as Merlin. Merlin has white outer petals and a yolk-egg yellow inner trumpet ringed with hot orange. He’s one of my favourites if you want something zingy. For a single colour daffodil, I think Mount Hood which is the palest yellow/possibly white takes some beating. Charity May, which is a conventional yellow but has sweet curling back outer petals is also very pretty.

For sheer elegance combined with a lovely fragrance I think the white daffodil, Thalia takes some beating.

However you’re using them, plant daffodils in September. They prefer sun though some such as Jack Snipe will cope with partial shade. The only absolute ‘no nos’ are waterlogged ground and deep shade, but other than that they’re not very fussy. My kind of plant!

Hyacinths

Confession time here. I’ve not grown hyacinths outdoors before. I think it’s because I’ve always associated them with the forced plants which we had indoors at Christmas when I was a child. So I felt they were a bit gimmicky and unnatural.

But seeing some gorgeous examples of outdoor planting with them has utterly changed my mind. So I’m putting them on my list of bulbs to plant now. And what an addition they are. They smell wonderful and come in such a lovely mix of colours. Yes, there’s the traditional purple, but you can also get pink, white and even mauve hyacinths. Last week I treated myself to a peachy/coral coloured variety!

You can have them at the front of borders – they grow up to 30cm tall so look lovely with tulips. I’ve also seen amazing Spring containers planted up with the white hyacinth, Carnegie.

Hyacinths should be planted between September and November about 10cm deep and 8cm apart. If you are putting them in a container, and it’s going to be a temporary arrangement, then you can plant them closer together, but don’t let the bulbs touch as that may cause rotting.

I’ve also read they can irritate the skin, so wear gloves when handling the bulbs.

Bulbs to Plant – Tulips

I’ve written a lot about tulips and plant a lot of them. Indeed you may recall that last year I planted literally hundreds in a raised bed (you can read about my tulip bed here.)

I also shared some of my top performing tulips in this blog and in this one. So if you are overwhelmed by the array of possible tulips you could go for, these blogs may help.

While there’s no arguing tulips are definitely one of my top bulbs to plant, I would hold fire on planting them until November. Essentially you want the cold weather to have begun so that the risk of your bulbs getting the disease Tulip Fire is reduced.

Classic Bulbs to Plant – Bluebells

Again another plant I’ve written about before, bluebells are an iconic plant. Indeed 25-49% of the world’s English bluebell population is in the British Isles, so we are key custodians of it!

English bluebells are hyacinthoides non-scripta. They’re protected in the wild and are at risk of being out-competed by the Spanish type (Hyacinthoides hispanica) or a hybrid (Hyacinthoides x massartiana) which garden centres often sell.  

So I’d urge you to add English bluebells to your list of bulbs to plant. Some people suggest growing them from seed but it’s much quicker to start with bulbs since seeds can take 4-5 years to reach flowering size! I’m far too impatient for that.

Like snowdrops, you can buy bluebell bulbs either in Spring ‘in the green’ (during active growth) or as dry bulbs. I personally have had a lot of success with bluebell bulbs so I would give them a go now. I planted 150 last year to create a sort of glade, running past my beech tree and towards my dustins (how glamorous!) Almost all of them thrived, so I’m going to plant the same again, to really enhance the effect.

Bluebells like partial shade, but will tolerate a bit of sun and are pretty easy. Once your bluebells are established, pop a bit of mulch on them, ideally leaf mould, each Autumn to mimic the woodland floor. I’m going to do this as a job next weekend.

Puschkinia

If you want bulbs to plant which are similar to but a bit showier than a snowdrop and you have a sunny spot, you could try Puschkinia. They’re also known as the Russian Snowdrop. It’s easy to see why as they have star-shaped flowers with white petals striped with the most dazzling blue. That said I think they originate from the Eastern Mediterranean! Geography is not my strong suit so I’ll stop there!!

Wherever they’re from, Puschkinia are really resilient. Just give them a sunny spot where they can bake throughout Summer and they’ll do the rest. Mine are in too deep a shade so aren’t performing, but that’s my fault not theirs!

If you want some planting suggestions, I’ve seen them looking particularly effective planted beneath Silver Birch trees. But if you don’t have a Silver Birch still give them a go. I think they’d look fabulous in a rock garden or under any tree or shrub so long as they get the sun. Plant the bulbs in September and October.

Bulbs to Plant – General Advice

The rule of thumb with bulbs seems to be ensure they’re in free draining soil, (so add a bit of grit if necessary) and plant to three times the bulb’s depth. For tulips I plant even deeper as I think this helps them to thrive and come back in subsequent years.

Beyond this, the general advice for bulbs grown in the garden is to remove the flowering stem after flowering. This stops the plant wasting energy on seed production. To be honest it’s a faff trying to do that with tiny flowers like snowdrops and crocuses. So I don’t bother with them. But I do attend to tulips and daffodils in this way. And will definitely do the same with my hyacinths.

Whether you’ve removed the flower stems or not you must let the foliage die down completely. So if you’ve got bulbs growing in your grass, that means not cutting the grass for many weeks after the flowers have finished. I appreciate this is a tough one for tidy gardeners but it’s essential. As it allows the leaves to continue feeding the bulb. It’s that bulb which will give you next year’s flowers, so look after it!

I also feed my bulbs after flowering, with a potash-rich fertiliser like a tomato feed. Even doing this and giving your bulbs such a heavy dose of TLC doesn’t mean all your Spring flowering bulbs will last forever. Hyacinths and tulips may well need replacing. But oh the joy while you have them brightening up your garden during those early months of the year!

Final Thought – Creating An All White Bulb Container?

If you want to get in on the Spring bulb planting act but don’t have a lot of room, why not plant up a container with a mixture of bulbs. I’m going to create a large, metal container filled with the following white bulbs. I think the combination of different white plants will look really elegant against the silvery metal but in reality I’ve no idea how it will look. So watch this space!

• Crocus Jeanne d’Arc
• Hyacinthus Carnegie
• Puschkinia Libanotica
• Narcissus Thalia
• Tulipa White Prince
• Bit of trailing white and green variagated ivy

If you plant a mixed container with Spring flowering bulbs, do let me know what you’re trying and how you get on. I’ll blog about the best combinations!