August has arrived and it's time to start thinking about what colourful blooms we want to see in spring. The best time to plant spring bulbs is the end of August and the start of September.
Firstly decide which bulbs you would like to plant. Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths, Iris, Bluebells, Snowdrops, Crocus and Fritillaria (snakes head) are all ones that are ideal to a plant at the moment.
Tulips are fabulous as there is such an array of colour and shape that you are sure to find the perfect ones to go with any garden design.
Alliums are also great, these dramatic looking flowers often give a very professional look to a garden with little effort on the gardeners part.
Where to plant?
Daffodils are versatile and can be planted along verges, around the base of trees, in planters, and in amongst other plants in border beds to give a flare of colour in early spring. There are a great assortment to choose from. The large Narcissus 'Dutch Master' is a strong classic or if you prefer the more scented smaller type Narcissus 'Tete a Tete' is ideal. Try mixing the two for a longer more varied display.
When planting it's a rule of thumb to go 2-3 times the depth of the bulb placing the 'pointy' top end upwards. I always plant my Daffs in clumps of about 3-4 to give a more immediate display come spring.
Crocus, Snowdrops and Bluebells work well in the same places Daffs do but also look fantastic when planted in a lawn. To do this get a handful of your bulbs or corms and scatter them across your lawn. With a trowel or a bulb planter dig a neat sod out where they land and dig down 3 times the depth of the bulb. Always place 3-4 bulbs in each hole and then cover back over with the soil and sod, I sometimes remove a little of the soil from the bottom of the sod to give a little extra space to the bulb so it's not overly squashed. Then water so that the grass roots can re-establish (I'm sure giving our weather at the moment that step may not be necessary!)
Alliums (the onion family) work incredibly well in border beds. Bear in mind they are often quite tall flowers so they are ideal for more 'built' up beds with a little extra support such as around larger bushes like bay or hydrangeas. If you have a bed where you have already planted Agapanthus for example they work really well giving similar shaped flowers with having the added bonus of keeping pests away (they hate the oniony smell).
Unlike the smaller bulbs they should be planted 2 to 3 inches apart from each other and not in clumps.
A couple of examples of dramatic looking Alliums are Allium 'Globemaster' and Allium 'Silver Spring' both giving very large and brilliant blooms.
Tulips look just wonderful in planters and in borders. There are such an incredible array of colours and shapes to choose from that there really is something for everyone. I always try to get at least 3 to 4 different types and colours and plant them in clumps again of about 3 to 4. Try and mix colours that compliment each other such as Tulip 'Queen of the Night' with Tulip 'Couleaur Cardinal' or buy a multicoloured cultivar such as Tulip 'Helmar' or Tulip 'Carnaval de Nice'.
Sometimes it's hard to remember to plan ahead for the spring garden, especially when you're planting something that you're not going to see for 5-6 months but I promise that come spring if you make the effort now you won't regret it!
Happy planting!
Sophie x
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