The last few days have passed by in a flurry and helped by some extremely fine weather I have started to tackle spring bulb planting.
The most important bulbs to get into the ground NOW are daffodils and then really all other spring flowering bulbs with the exception of tulips. If you are clearing a border which has daffodil bulbs in it you will see that they have already started to grow roots, a sure sign that they are ready to go into action.
There are plenty of good instructions around on how to plant your bulbs but just a quick reminder to plant them at the right depth. I am often being asked why daffodils come up blind and then main culprit is planting them too shallow. If you garden on heavy soil, it is all too tempting to just dig a small hollow and bury them but they need to be planted at three times deeper than the size of the bulb.
Also, never buy or plant bulbs that do not feel firm or show any sign of mould.
Some of the bulbs I have bought are enormous, so 15cm deep is just about right. Luckily enough I have prepared the borders well in advance, so planting is a fairly straightforward exercise: plant in groups of five and mark the spot, so that when tulip planting begins I will not disturb any of the bulbs planted now.
Finally it pays to use different varieties to have a long flowering season. This year I am planting 'February Gold', 'Jetfire' and 'Manly', so there should be daffodils from early March right through to May.
Happy planting.
I've been planting daffs as well ! My favourites are definitely tulips though. Do you have a favourite tulip ?
ReplyDeleteI adore tulips, too. I could not possibly name a favourite as there are so many that sing to me. Luckily I often have free reign in my client's garden to recommend or even choose varieties, so I feel very spoilt. There will be a tulip feature later in the year - when I finally order them.
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