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GARDENING
Alliums do best in a sunny spot. Dot this onion relative through the border and wait for its round, starry globes to appear on strong stems
A bulb for every location
It’s time to hunker down with the mail-order bulb catalogues and plan for a colourful and exuberant 2022, says Elly West
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t’s a quiet time right now, when the majority of the garden is going to sleep for the winter, dying back and needing little attention apart from some clearing and sweeping up of dead leaves. Days are shorter, not to mention colder and wetter, so it’s a great time to hunker down with the mail-order bulb catalogues and plan for next year. Autumn is prime time for bulb planting and it’s one of the easiest and most reliable ways to guarantee a spring that’s full of exuberant colour. One of the best things about bulbs is their versatility. Whatever the size, aspect, style or soil type of your garden, there are bulbs to suit. And there’s very little effort involved. I love the fact that you just pop them in the ground in autumn, forget about them, and then there they are in in a few short months, pushing up through the soil, full of promise. Choose carefully and these harbingers of spring will brighten every corner of your plot, whether it’s a shady area under a tree, or a container by a sunny front door. There are bulbs that suit shade, sun, meadow, woodland, sandy or damp and heavy soils. They can provide scent, colour, attract wildlife and make a statement. And if you plant them now, a pack of dry bulbs is a fraction of the cost of the same plants potted up and growing in spring. Plus there is a lot more choice when you buy them in autumn. Dry shade is one of the trickiest spots in a garden – areas at the base of a wall, or under trees. However, there are many bulbs that originally hail from woodland zones and can cope well with these conditions. Aconites, snowdrops, anemones, cyclamen and erythroniums are all well-adapted to gloomier spots where they are protected from summer sun. Grow them in groups and let them naturalise under trees and shrubs. Don’t be stingy with your planting – the more the better – then sit back and wait for them to go forth and multiply, creating a carpet of colour. At the other end of the spectrum are hot, sunny borders where the options are wide. By its very nature, a bulb is well-adapted to deal with 78 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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NOVEMBER 2021
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No 204
summer drought, storing all the starches, proteins and energy safely inside in a dormant state until conditions are right for growing. Most daffodil, tulip, crocus and hyacinth species are native to areas with a Mediterranean climate where they have wet winters and hot, dry summers. Alliums are among my favourite for late-spring blooms, and these onion relatives do best in a sunny spot. Dot them through the border and wait for their round, starry globes to appear on strong stems, pushing up through the new, fresh growth of perennials such as geraniums and Alchemilla mollis.
You just pop them in the ground in autumn, forget about them, and then there they are in a few short months, pushing up through the soil, full of promise
Some bulbs will rot over winter in damp soils. I never have high expectations for my tulips, and plant new ones each year as they don’t seem to come back reliably on my clay soil. Any extras surviving from previous years are then a bonus. However, there are others to choose from that grow naturally on the edges of rivers and streams, or in damp meadowland, so look to these if you have poor drainage. Bluebells, camassias, martagon lilies and snake’s-head fritillaries will thrive on moist soil. Narcissus ‘Tete-a-tete’ is a cheery yellow miniature daffodil that will grow just about anywhere and doesn’t mind some damp, or shade for that matter. If you’re planting up containers of spring bulbs, then it’s much easier to create the conditions that they like. These moveable feasts can be
