Summer bulbs

[yankeecandle4]

Was very surprised to see summer bulbs in the shops this week. I'm fairly new to gardening so not really sure if these are planted now or have to wait? Any particular summer bulbs that are a must?

They're normally planted in spring as the weather starts to warm up. It's been a mild winter, so I would guess that in many places people will be popping them in, but it's a risk as it's a wee bit early and the soil is still cold and soggy, which brings risk of rot. I'm in quite a cold area, so I'll be waiting a bit longer just to be on the safe side!

In my view, no garden is complete without alliums! I just love them, from the short, white pom-poms of Allium Karataviense to the splendid huge globes of metallic purple that are Allium Christophii to the classic, tight spheres of 'Purple Sensation'. And a special shout out for the crazy, messily wonderful Nectaroscordia, which the bees love.

Some of the brighter red Crocosmias (Lucifer) and the yellow ones (George Davison) are lovely too. I'm not partial to the orange ones, though.

I noticed this yesterday too although it was in the supermarket. The good garden centre near me hasn't started pushing them yet so I'd guess it's still a little early.

I love alliums too. I've always done well with bleeding hearts. You get a lot of plant from one little bulb!

It is usually the wet that kills summer bulbs if planted too early.

Years ago, my mum worked in a shop where they would put bedding plants out for sale at Easter and then another batch out at Whitsun. The manager used to say, this lot is for the gullible, the next Ones are for the Gardeners.