Gardening is all about looking forwards. It’s this whole act of planning for the next season that I love, and one of the reasons that gardening is so good for the soul. I’ve been thinking of how I want the garden to be in Spring and so have ordered a ton of bulbs from Farmer Gracy. Their bulbs are always really good quality and they have a great range available. Planting bulbs for Spring is a great way to get flowers for the garden – they’re pretty easy to do, and sort themselves out for the most part.
This year I ordered some Tulip White Dream and Mondial. I also ordered Narcissus Thalia as I love a daffodil but am not a fan of the yellow. Thalia has a lovely white flower, much more my kind of thing. I’m also going to attempt to “force” some paperwhite daffodils for inside the house, so ordered some Narcissus Tazetta. I’ve popped them in the fridge and will leave them there for a few weeks before they go into the freezer for a week, hopefully to trick them into thinking they’ve had a winter. I’ll then plant them up in a pot in the kitchen and hope for the best!
I wanted the new flower beds I made at the start of the year to be full of bulbs. During winter and early spring, when we’re not out in the garden as much, these are what we see from the main window so I want the view to be pretty. I’ve planted a mix of the tulips and daffodils in here, to carry on the cottage garden style of planting. There are already some tulips in here which didn’t do too well, so I’ve added more to the mix. I want the display to be a bit random, so I scattered the bulbs into the flower bed and planted them where they landed. This way they won’t look too regimented.
My tips for planting spring bulbs:
Plant tulips and narcissus in mid to late Autumn.
Check the planting depth for the variety you’re planting. Tulips should be planted deep, around 10cm to 15cm is ideal.
If your soil is heavy, put some grit in the bottom of the planting hole for extra drainage.
Plant your bulbs with the pointy side facing up.
A layer of sand makes a handy marker so you know where you’ve planted some bulbs (and don’t accidentally dig them up!)
I’m looking forward to seeing these tulips and daffodils flower in Spring. I’ve got some more to plant in pots to have in the back yard, but am waiting for some more mail order plants to come before I plant all those. I’ve got white violas and Ajuga Braun Hertz on order, as well as some ivy, so I’m hoping these will look good.
Happy planting!
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