SPRINGTIME STUNNERS

RHS Harlow Carr’s Rebecca Land on bulbs to plant for spring colour

s gardeners, everything we do is looking to the future – and planting bulbs is no exception.

If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to plant up your containers or beds to enjoy in spring. Garden centres often have offers on at this time of year, and bulb planting is a brilliant way to get growing, whether you’re an avid gardener or a beginner, and regardless of how much space you have.

We have been busy here at RHS Garden Harlow Carr doing just that. We start ordering our bulbs in mid-July, when spring displays are far from most people’s minds. The garden team pores over the catalogues, choosing bulbs to complement each other in colour, scent, size and flowering time. The aim is to extend the floral season and achieve the best possible variety of colour, shape and texture.

CLASSIC CONTAINER COMBOS

October sees our bulbs arriving in crates, all carefully labelled and categorised, which is very important when you’ve ordered many of thousands of bulbs, as we do here.

Often the teams layer up their containers, starting with the bulbs that will flower last – usually the tulips, which are destined for May–June flowering. These are followed by a layer of smaller bulbs such as narcissi for an April show.

For the top layer you could add the diminutive Iris reticulata or pale pink Chionodoxa to flower in February–March. Other possibilities for this top layer are Iris ‘Harmony’, which is a delicious blue-purple with splashes of yellow at its centre, or Iris ‘George’, a rich purple variety. How cheery to have a pot of these welcoming you at your front door in the gloomy month of February!

Our bulbs have to work quite hard for us and we tend to cram them in cheek-by-jowl. For high impact displays we usually plant 60 to 70 tulips per square metre. As a rule of thumb, bulbs are planted at four times their depth.

Once flowering is over, allow the foliage to die back naturally, then the bulbs can be lifted and stored – or if in containers just moved out of sight if you don’t need the pots. We lift our bulbs after flowering as the containers are needed for summer displays.

Of course you don’t have to layer your containers with a mixture of different species. You might, for example, just want to combine different varieties of tulip.

One combination that works very well is Tulipa ‘Queen of the Night’, a rich dark-purple tulip, with Tulipa ‘Ballerina’, a lily-pointed, delicately scented orange tulip, and Tulipa ‘Yellow Emperor’, an elegant pure lemon tulip. The colours blend beautifully and they all flower at about the same time, giving a fantastic display for several weeks.

STICKING POINT

Pots, when prepared and planted up, can be covered with a mulch of gravel, slate or bark depending on your preference. And why not add some coloured stems cut from your garden to create interest whilst you await the main act? Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, Cornus alba ‘Kesselringii’, a dark stemmed variety, and Cornus alba ‘Baton Rouge’ a crimson-stemmed one, are all good choices. Inserted into your containers these sticks will not only look good but keep birds and squirrels from disturbing the soil and digging up the bulbs.

PREVIOUS PAGE: TOP LEFT Tulipa 'Rems Favourite', 'Paul Scherer' and Muscari aucheri 'White Magic'. TOP CENTRE Iris 'Teal Velvet' at Harlow Carr. TOP RIGHT Tulipa 'Golden Emperor'. THIS PAGE: TOP LEFT Bulb planting at Harlow Carr. TOP RIGHT Narcissus in woodland at Harlow Carr. As well as planting up containers, if you have a garden you may want to establish some reliable spring bulbs elsewhere, to enjoy their reappearance year after year. Miniature narcissi and crocuses are lovely choices that work in a variety of settings.

A good choice for early colour is Narcissus ‘Tête-à-tête’, which is stout and sturdy and less prone to being blown about by the weather than some. This makes it ideal for planting beneath deciduous trees and shrubs.

Other good miniature narcissi include Narcissus ‘February Gold’ and Narcissus ‘Jetfire’, which produces a delightful bright orange trumpet. Scented narcissi include Narcissus ‘Cheerfulness’, which flowers later, around mid-spring, producing clusters of double white flowers with creamy white segments in the centre.

Most of the crocuses with large, gobletshaped flowers in purple and white – ‘Pickwick’ and ‘Remembrance’, for example – are Dutch selections bred from Crocus vernus. These amazing bulbs have the strength to push through turf and can be used in lawns and under trees. When naturalising Crocus vernus, ensure you leave the grass uncut for six weeks after flowering to encourage self-seeding.

The sunny orange and cream varieties are bred from Crocus chrysanthus. These are early to flower, have smaller, cup-shaped flowers, and provide a good splash of colour. Crocus chrysanthus ‘Cream Beauty’ is a popular favourite.

So get planning now, and look forward to an abundance of colour next year. And, come spring, do remember to water your bulbs during long dry spells for best results. For more information about RHS Harlow Carr visit rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr

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