summer flowering bulbs

[shallIswim]

I have bought a couple of lucky relatives the Whichford Bee terracotta pots for Xmas and want to bung in some summer flowering bulbs or the like that they can plant in them themselves just after xmas. Any good recommendations? Thanks! x

Lucky relatives, indeed!

I have been searching for 'pot plant aesthetics' and it took a lot of googling. Apparently the golden rule for height is one-third versus two-thirds but it doesn't matter which way round. So you can have:
pot two-thirds, plant one-third or
pot one-third, plant two-thirds.
Here are 23 pages of suggestions from Crocus for inspiration. You can refine that search by reference to several factors, including height (as above).

Other aesthetic tip: simple pot=fancy plant; fancy pot=simple plant.

How about agapanthus? According to the rhs website they should be planted from March onwards.

If they don't have cats in the garden, then lilies are another obvious option.

How about a selection, so they get a continuing display?

Otherwise, I'd go for aliums, there's a huge variety and the bees go mad for them!

Thanks for the great suggestions. I'm off to -spend far too much- browse some online catalogues

oooops tried to strikethrough and failed!