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Spring is a season that comes with a rush of colour. One way to enjoy the most glorious bulbs is to plant up a series of containers that you can place around the garden. You can brighten up an entranceway, a terrace or an outdoor dining area with a pot of colourful bulbs.
Growing bulbs in containers is a great way to add depth to the garden. Tiny bulbs in a container stand out so much more, they can even be lifted to eye level.
Bulbs in pots can even be sunk into the garden for a splash of spring colour and then, when they are over, lifted and planted elsewhere where the dying foliage is out of sight.
Planting the Container
Pack the bulbs in for a really good display. Plant either pots of a single variety of a stylish, dramatic container. Mix varieties and colours for bright and cheerful spring show.
Layering the bulbs in the pot enables you to fill any container to the brim with bloom. Try narcissi below tulips, and then smaller crocus and muscari in the top layer. Tiny Iris reticulata and I. histrioides will make an early show of bright blue and yellow (these need to be planted about 10-15cm (4-6in) deep in a pot) and make a good middle layer. The bulbs will push through and make a marvellous show.
Planting pansies of primulas will give some interest while the bulbs are growing, adding colour to your winter and early spring garden. For some real pizzazz in a big container try planting the lime-green Euphorbia polychroma with bright orange tulips or deep blue Dutch iris.
Copy the Pros
Some pros like to grow the bulbs in smaller pots and then make up a large container display once the bulbs have come through - that way poorly developed and blind bulbs can be seen and left out - avoiding those gaps that appear in many longer term schemes.
Carefully lift growing bulbs from small containers without disturbing the soil and plant them into a larger pot. Using peat pots of newspaper containers makes this easy, as you don't even have to remove the outer pot.
Season to Season
Most bulbs are happy in containers - at least for a season. Holding them longer can be more difficult. Most bulbs have a dormant period. Narcissi like to be cool and a little moist over the summer. Tulips, on the other hand, are from Mediterranean regions and like a good baking. Lilies don't like to dry out. If you can place the pots in the right conditions over the months that the bulbs are dormant then they will flower again.
Bulbs held in pots for more than one season need to be fed. The bulbs are packed more tightly into a smaller space in a container than in the garden border, and nutrients are quickly depleted. If you plant the bulbs out in the garden, wait until they have died down and then plant as you would bought bulbs. You may have to wait a season for another great display, but they will continue to bloom, although hyacinths tend to be smaller and less showy in subsequent seasons. Planting in the garden is a perfect excuse to buy new bulbs for next year's spring containers!
Some bulbs are better in containers long term. Smaller bulbs especially can get lost in the garden. Specialist bulbs need especially sharp (i.e. good) drainage and this is easier to manage in the controlled environment of a pot.
Try it and See
Containers of bulbs make spring a great season to enjoy, and you can try fresh combinations each year, or repeat the tried and true. Even if you've left it until spring, you can have great containers to enjoy this spring by using the pro's technique.
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Massed containers cram full of spring colour
Tulips in sophisticated white
Layer the bulbs in the container
Pansies extend the season
Tiny Iris reticulata bulbs should be planted 10-15cm deep
Iris reticulata - clear blue
The pro's plant emerging bulbs into larger pots
Plant up a bright container now | |
