Spring and Summer Bulbs 2023

[daisychain01]

I thought it would be nice to have a bulb thread for this year, so we can share photos and talk about what we've planted.

i thought I'd start by saying, if you find you have some bulbs from last year that you forgot to plant in the Autumn, do get them in the ground this week if you can, there is still plenty of time for them to grow and flower (even though the normal time to plant Spring bulbs is around November.

I have had so much going on with home and work, that my stash of bulbs were carefully stored away, lightly wrapped in newspaper, and I have been meaning to plant them for a couple of weeks. I checked online and several gardening sites say that as long as the bulbs look nice and plump with no signs of mould or shrivelled appearance, they are fine to plant in late Jan/ early Feb.

so I went out this afternoon, grabbed a few pots and got working. I did a few bulb lasagnes (layers of bulbs interspersed with compost) as I'm a bit low on compost. They will hopefully come up as a nice bright blousey displayed of mixed flowers. Fingers crossed 🤞

Weve got a mixed display of narcissi and daffs in our dingle which is a group of mature silver birch, which always come up well in April, and a few crocuses in the front by our gate, apart from that, I tend to do mixed pots each year as it's nice to move the colour round the garden.

I can’t quite remember what I planted last year - my first foray into gardening.

I know there were snow drops and crocuses. Some tête-à-tête, possibly narcissus. I remember struggling to find bluebells, and can’t remember if I did in the end. I think I returned the hyacinths.

It’ll be a surprise for sure! They’ve started poking up, and I’ve even got one or two flowers showing.

I inherited some pots from my late FIL that he planted with my children, I think they have normal daffodils in, which he planted because they’re my favourite.

I’ve got some sweet pea seeds for later, as he used to bring me bunches of those when I was pregnant/had tiny babies, to remember him with.

It will be lovely for you to see all the different flowers making a show in the coming weeks and months @Marmite27 I can just about remember my bulbs were parrot tulip, regular tulip, muscari (grape hyacinth), tête-à-tête and crocus, so I think my pots are going to be a 'mixed bag' this year lol.

Gardens are great places for remembering our loved ones, either with the objects d'art they've left for us to enjoy like your FIL's pots and my MIL's birdbath with a little tortoise resting on the top, or being able to plant different flowers and shrubs that remind us of them.

My granny's favourites were peony, so I've got a big clump of those (bright cerise and powder pink varieties) that come up around my birthday in May.

Lovely thread!

I’ve just bought some ranunculus which I’ve never grown before. Also found some dahlias (don’t always do brilliantly where I am, much cooler) in the shed.

planted ALL my bulbs a few weeks ago - had some left over in the little pots from last year, and the snowdrops came out! So sweet looking.

I love snowdrops @Lightninginabox ive got a couple of clumps of them under a tree, and every year I vow to dig them up after they've finished flowering and split them so they cover a wider area - they've got quite congested.

Maybe this will be the year I finally get myself organised!

I did a bulb lasagne on Christmas Eve in a new pot I'd bought. I definitely had some crocus cream beauty, some allium (the droopy one), a pale yellow species narcissus (bulbs......?) with a cone shaped trumpet and nonexistent corolla and something else but I've forgotten what. I dumped a impulse bought cyclamen on top. Something is sprouting!!! Excited. And I've got some dark blue minature irises in another pot I'd completely forgotten about. I've just noticed them flowering. 😁 Magpies gathering twigs, wood pigeons courting, wall flowers sprouting in places where wall flowers should not be....spring is on its way!

But I'm not putting the dahlias out for a few more weeks.

I'm expecting to see the fritillaries in the lawn anyday, they always surprise me.

I am new to gardening in the UK, and this is my first experience of bulbs. Can someone explain what a "bulb lasagna" is? Thank you :)

Hi @Sistanotcista this explains how to do a bulb lasagne. It usually works well. I started doing them as a teen as presents for my Aunts

@PritiPatelsMaker - thank you so much!

I planted lots of snowdrops bulbs around my garden (mostly on the lawn) a few months ago, in late autumn, I think. Sadly none of them have come up!
I do have clumps from other years.

I have pots of tulips and they are all growing by the day. It’s always a relief because so many people tell me that they don’t come back again. I think my pots are 3-5 years old now.

Our daffodils in my area are very early this year. I’ve already seen some in bloom.

No problem @Sistanotcista. Have you planted anything in your new garden yet?

Hello all my gardening friends, I've just sat down after a long day and enjoyed reading through all your posts 😊

@TheDuchessOfMN did you plant your snowdrops 'in the green' or from bulbs? You may find they won't do anything in the first year of planting but give them another year and they could come up strongly.

You could try top dressing them with compost if you've naturalised them around trees, as the tree roots compete for moisture, so a few handfuls of compost help keep them nice and moist. Snowdrops are the only bulb that doesn't enjoy being dried out, hence why they are invariably supplied 'in the green' so that you can immediately get them in the ground before their delicate skins dry out special little snowflakes

@daisychain01 That’s interesting. I planted them from bulbs. They were teeny tiny. Hopefully them will come next year.
Thank you 😊

I’m going to wait until all the shops are selling the little pots of snowdrops off and then use those to plant them in the green. The pot of them I just had hanging around suffering from last year then shoved in some compost as a little clump has done far better than any single ones I’ve ever planted. I think they like being in a little gang!

*they, not them

Definitely hold back on those dahlia a while longer @IcakethereforeIam the past few nights have been well below zero degrees, brrrrrr.

Fingers crossed 🤞 for those snowdrops next year @TheDuchessOfMN im sure they'll be fine and worth the wait. Gardening is a game of patience.

previous owners planted some daffodils in very gravely ground at the edge of the driveway, they would be a nightmare to remove. They come up blind, and if one or two do flower, the flowers look so scruffy, flowers also get eaten by something..This year the daffs are appearing again ! So I’ve fed them with tomatoe feed and sprayed them with garlic potion which I make up every year which keeps most mammals and creepiest away. So I will see if these treatments make a difference.

Timely thread, @daisychain01 ! I got a box of bulbs (mixed daffodils) in a special offer, put them in the garage until planting time, and then just never got around to getting them in the ground. I was sure I'd missed the boat and your post has spurred me on to plant them this week. Thank you!

I will report back on progress!

I transplanted snowdrops from Mum’s garden a few years ago and nothing the next year. I’ve planted snowdrop bulbs several times over the years and nothing. I didn’t bother this year and I’ve discovered one lone snowdrop under a bay tree. Hurray!

I know they're poisonous but there's a very pale yellow variety of aconite that I'd love to grow. Unfortunately, it seems to be rarely available in the UK and only as bulbs. I'm pretty sure, like snow drops, aconite is best planted in the green and I've had no luck finding them as growing plants. Maybe this year?

I've got some of the mini irises in the ground, but they sort of blend in amd aren't very noticeable. I got a load more last autumn and they are in pots (although those aren't in bud yet) which should be nice.

Snowdrops along my path, taken from my mums garden and splitting out as they multiply (picture was last week, they look better this week).

Lots of daffodils, some quite old and a lot more planted over the last 2 or 3 years.

Quite a lot of tulips in pots planted last autumn and the one before.

Lots of hyacinths, I keep adding to those.

Plus primulas dotted all around, which although not bulbs I'm just mentioning as nice colour at this time of year.

Can I ask beginner questions pls? I have bags of bulbs (daffodils, crocuses) which I'm going to stick in the ground and hope for the best. They all have green shoots. How muchj of the green shoot do I bury - do I leave a bit or all of it poking out of the ground? Do I need to water when I've planted?

I'd dig over the piece of ground quite thoroughly where you're going to plant your bulbs @Alicay to make sure it isn't too solid, as you're going to have to give them a bit more help than if they were planted in November.

Bulbs do like to be planted nose up, tail down, so to your point, the green shoot does need to be up, but don't worry about being too exact they will sort themselves out and find the sun, it just helps if they're the right way up to start with. Do bury them a few inches down and give them a water if the temperature forecast in your area isn't "minus 5 for the next week" if is sunny where you are as it has been these past few days, that'll bring them on nicely.

looking forward to everyone's updates, it such an exciting time of year.

Snowdrops do indeed prefer being in gangs @Lightninginabox but they tend to get compacted after several years, then it's time to split them up like naughty little children who mess around in class

@Cazziebo all you can do is give it a whirl and see if they come up, if not your labour isn't wasted because they'll definitely be back again next year.

Brilliant thanks Daisy, off to get my hands mucky!

I have a flower!