Spring bulbs

[Needcoffeecoffeecoffee]

Thinking about the dark winter time and want to make sure I have some bright colours to look forward to in the spring.
Every year i forget about the spring bulbs until the spring!!
This year i must be organised!!
And I've just learnt i can plant hyacinths i always think of them of indoor plants so they will be added to the list!

What do you all love in your garden and where do you get your bulbs from?

We have:

• Snow drops. The very first sign of life returning even while winter still holds a chilly grip.
• Daffodils. These cheery little faces are a must to bring in the spring. Lots of different types, planted in clumps, so the flowering goes on.
• Hyacinths. Most years we pot up plenty of pots for the house then when they have flowered we stick them in the ground and they come back next year as garden flowers.
• Tulips. Blazes of colour as the days start to get a bit of warmth to them. Deep oranges and purples in one bed, bright pinks and cream/greens in another then whites and deep purples in front of the house.
• Alliums. Tall explosions of purple energy rising up out from the shrubs and perenials that are (only just) alive once more. Plus Honey Garlic, their subtle and more noble cousin.

By the time this is all done, later spring/early summer is here and everything else is ready to take over.

I buy my bulbs from all over (Crocus, T&M, the Garden Centres, ebay even) but I think Dutch Grown are very good.

Thank you. I like the idea of hyacinths inside then them in the garden the next year.
Almost forgot snowdrops!!
In our last house we had so many aliums just thousands no matter how much I tried to get rid of them so I may steer clear of them!!

I like daffodils (narcissus), crocuses, and tulips. Daffs and crocuses usually come back year after year, larger tulips I find just last one year (but that means you can plant different colours each year for a change). Smaller botanical tulips can come back year on year but you may need to go to a specialist supplier. Snowdrops should be planted 'in the green' rather than as bulbs, so best to wait.

Bulbs available in garden centres, nurseries and often at larger super markets. Farmer Grace online have a really lovely selection, and lots of inspiration.

Believe or not Poundland has a fabulous collection in. I live in a flat so all my bulbs have to go in pots on the balcony which is still quite alot of hard work. Im just waiting for my geraniums to finish so i can make a start on emptying my planters.

Oh thanks for the poundland tip. I'm not sure if we have one close but will keep an eye out.

@PuffinPeter what do you mean that snowdrops need to be planted "in the green" ? Sorry I'm fairly new to it all

I went a bit mad last year and bought loads. The best ones were the tiny iris reticulata which flowered in early February and stayed in flower for weeks and weeks after. There was nothing else around in the garden but they were so sweet and cheerful. I've just bought a pack of 50 more! The peony tulips I put in the front garden also lasted well with the alliums but that may have been down to the weather. The parrot tulips I planted were really disappointing

'In the green' means snowdrops are best planted when they're in leaf, whereas most bulbs get planted when they're dormant or just starting to sprout.

I like daffs - tête-à-tête are cheap and such good doers. My favourite is the elegant white Thalia - I sometimes do a white or blue and white 'lasagne' with some combination of crocus, iris reticulata, grape hyacinths (the cheap common blue ones are best imo), white narcissi and tulips.

I've got a few alliums but could do with more.

I like them all, planted in clumps around the garden. It's lovely to see spring progressing as snowdrops move on to crocuses, then daffs and narcissi and on to tulips. I've bought them from garden centres and supermarkets mainly but I have a Sarah Raven catalogue that's very tempting. I really like the look of the peony tulips so I'm quite likely to succumb to ordering.

Thanks everyone. I must make sure I do plant them this year and not leave it too late or forget until spring!!

I have terrible squirrel issues here and any bulb planted in the beds is stolen promptly so I've given that up as a bad job. I've counted 9 squirrels attacking my bulbs at the same time before now.
I plant up lots and lots of pots of differing sizes and shapes and keep them all in the fruit cage until the spring when I place them in groups and individually around the garden.
I like lasagnes as I can turn the pots as each matures thus hiding any fading stems.
Once everything is fading, I stash all the pots behind a wall till they are properly faded, thus avoiding the 'spring is over' daffodil flop.

Very fond of chionodoxa! And scilla.

And lovely snakeshead fritillary.

And anemones! All kinds! I got some Caen ones this year and they flowered like mad, I hope they come back next spring.

We have a massive new bed out front to plant up, so I may get googling!

Cyclamen coum - begins flowering in late December and carries on till the daffodils are ready to take over. It’s earlier even than snowdrops and winter aconite. Don’t confuse with Cyclamen hederifolium which flowers in autumn

@MereDintofPandiculation

Cyclamen coum - begins flowering in late December and carries on till the daffodils are ready to take over. It’s earlier even than snowdrops and winter aconite. Don’t confuse with Cyclamen hederifolium which flowers in autumn

Get both!

Some of the cultivars (small not large) in reds, bright pinks and white can last quite well over winter outside in a pot in a somewhat sheltered position if the weather isn't too bad.

Do they grow well if planted as bulbs? I never see them in garden centres!

Cyclamen corms are planted shallow. I get mine from my local nursery, they usually have plenty in flower seasonally but also dry corms at other times.

I've got some flowering on my rockery now, they've self seeded into gravel below it.

@MrsBertBibby

Do they grow well if planted as bulbs? I never see them in garden centres!

If you mean the Cyclamen, they’re best bought in growth. You’ll often find them among the alpines

I ordered some blushing girl tulips from Farmer Gracey. They aren't bright colours, but are beautiful and white does stand out nicely (and I wanted to show off about my lovely purchase!)

I'm wondering what autocorrect led to a PP planting lasagnes😅.

Me too, countrygirl99! Wouldn’t it be lovely to pop out to the garden and harvest ready made lasagnes!

I go mad on tulips. The brighter the better, and sod good taste.

Also, M&S and Waitrose have mixed boxes of bulbs, I never mean to buy them, but they some of those always end up in my shopping trolley.

Whoever posted about FarmerGracy, shame on you, such bad influence you are.

@Babdoc

Me too, countrygirl99! Wouldn’t it be lovely to pop out to the garden and harvest ready made lasagnes!

There was a newspaper article the other day about a crop failure leading to price increases for pasta. I thought we were in a time warp back to the famous 1960’s April Fool about the spaghetti harvest. But no, they meant a shortage of durum wheat

@countrygirl99 @Babdoc

This is what the PP meant by planting a [bulb] lasagne: www.farmergracy.co.uk/blogs/farmer-gracys-blog/bulb-lasagna-plantings-a-feast-for-the-eyes

I plant like this (lasagne style) in containers and recommend it... e.g. tulips, hyacinths, grape hyacinths and narcissi are a lovely combination, provides interest for much longer than just planking one variety of bulb in a pot!

*plonking!

Shortage of pasta would be a disaster in our house. Can replace my lawn with a durum wheat crop?

Sorry for the derail OP. I definitely second daffs and alliums. I'm not a fan of tulips, I find the flowers get tatty too quickly. The squirrels always decimate snowdrops and crocuses in my garden so I plant up a couple of tubs with them and put wire mesh under the soil.