Bulbs, bulbs, bulbs
Now is definitely time to start planting bulbs for spring, if you haven’t already. Its still not too late to get a few spring bulbs in pots to brighten the cold days before spring kicks in, and if you don’t you’ll regret it.
Feeling impatient mid-September, I headed to Columbia Road Market to pick up mine and post-purchase very much regretted not going to my local and most wonderful – little garden centre, Growing Concerns around the corner from my flat which sold lots of big, fat, healthy bulbs. I found that many at the market were not great quality - however as long as you look at all the stalls before you purchase you should find some decent ones.
The key to picking healthy bulbs is to make sure that bulbs aren’t soft, and discard any with mould or fungus that is forming. And they generally they say that the bigger the bulb, the more the blooms. Ooh er..
- Columbia Road Flower Market (Sundays only)
I decided a while back that I wanted a big box of purple loveliness to look at come the spring months, so I planted a mixture of Aliums, Queen of the Night tulips, Snakes Head Fritllary and one or two Parrots Tulips in the middle to offset the purple, which I think will look fantastic come Spring.
Planting Spring bulbs is simple as long as you remember to plant the bulbs a depth of around three time their size. Simply drop them in and they grow, but to get the best out of them they need to be planted around 5/ 6 weeks before the first frost. With the bunch that I’ve planted, the bulbs are all different sizes which need to be accounted for. For example, Aliums are about five times the size of Snakes Head Fritallary so its best to layer the bulbs when planting, comme ici …
- Polystyrene is a great base to use for drainage
- I put the Aliums at the back due to their height and then layered over with compost
- Tulips went in the second row …
- Followed by Snakes Head Fritalia at the front with a final layer to finish
- Cat-proofed from becoming Matilda’s loo
Happy planting!
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