Plan and plant bulbs for a spring display

Bulbs are friendly time bombs that you set off in your garden. Plant them during autumn and the fuse is lit for an explosion of flowers in late winter and early spring. Buy a mix of bulbs for a riot of spring colour or select varieties to colour-coordinate plantings for an elegant result. They’re also easy to grow in well-drained soil or containers.

While some bulbs need to be replanted each year (especially in warm climates), many will settle in to multiply, with reliable blooms for years to come. To get good re-flowering results from bulbs, feed them in spring with a complete fertiliser and allow the foliage to die back naturally.

Ixia (Ixia hybrids)

Get out the sunglasses! Ixias (pictured above) are brightly coloured flowering bulbs that will make a splash anywhere. Also called corn lilies, they have grassy leaves and 60cm-long wiry stems massed with starry flowers in orange, yellow, red, pink, apricot, cream or white. All those bright colours are a tonic, especially after a long, cold, grey winter. Ixias cheerfully naturalise, especially in warm, sunny positions. For a showstopper, look out for the turquoise ixia (I. viridiflora), which has tall stems of green to turquoise flowers in late spring. Suitable for subtropical to cool climates.

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica and H. non-scripta)

Anyone who has seen a mass planting of bluebells in spring will be captivated by the carpet of delicate blue blooms. Bluebells multiply and spread where they are, and are happiest under deciduous trees, which give winter and spring sun and summer shade. Spanish bluebell is commonly and easily grown. It has a strong, upright stem 15–20cm high and hanging bell flowers. The English bluebell (H. non-scripta) is a delicate creature with a small, slender, slightly bent stem with flowers on just one side of the stem. Both species have long, strappy leaves. Despite their name, look out for white, pink or mauve flowers. Suitable for temperate to cool climates.

Snowdrop (Galanthus spp.)

Snowdrops should come with a warning: they can be highly addictive! Indeed, gardeners who love snowdrops have been dubbed ‘galanthophiles’ (from the genus name, Galanthus), and they will often pay a fortune for rare or unusual colour forms. Snowdrops are small plants (15–20cm high) with pendulous white flowers, each with three long petals that hug a circle of smaller petals finely marked with green or yellow. Plant them in clumps in a position that is sunny in winter and early spring, but cool and shaded in late spring and early summer. Snowdrops naturalise under deciduous trees, or you can grow them in a small pot to admire and cherish close-up. Plant bulbs in autumn, or potted plants (known as ‘in the green’) in early spring. Suitable for subtropical to cool climates.

For some interesting autumn-flowering bulbs, read this article.

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