The gifts of spring

Spring-flowering bulbs are among the most joyous plants to have in the garden.

Not just because their appearance signals the ending of winter and the coming of lighter, brighter days.
Not just because they come in a kaleidoscope of colours.

But because they take so little effort from you the gardener that they feel like a gift from nature each year.
Plant once and almost all will come back year after year, often in bigger swathes each time, bare soil transformed as colour bursts open from seemingly nothing.

Crocus

Puschkinia

Iris reticulata

A well done garden has something to enjoy each month of the year and spring-flowering bulbs go a long way towards achieving this.

Starting with snowdrops, Crocus and other carpeting bulbs through to punchier displays of daffodils, Muscari and the heavily scented Hyacinths, followed on by elegant Tulips and Alliums, your garden will have enjoyed a parade of blooms from February to May.

More commonly planted in autumn they are also available as potted plants in spring.

The advantage of planting bulbs now is that you can see exactly where they will be most effective, filling in those gaps where your borders need a little lift, and giving your planters some pizzazz while you wait for summer bedding season.

It is also much easier to get the planting depth correct when they are already growing in pots.

Narcissus Thalia

Narcissus Minnow

Hyacinths

After flowering, larger blooms on spring-flowering bulbs can be snipped off for tidiness and to prevent the plant wasting energy on forming seed. This applies to the likes of Hyacinths, Narcissus (daffodils) and Tulips.

Leaves should be left to die down naturally, to return nutrients to the bulb for next year.  This is worth factoring-in when you are deciding where to plant.

Most will die back unobtrusively so can be planted between summer-flowering perennials to give you a succession of colour; others might need placing away from May flowers.

If you have shadier areas try snowdrops, Scilla, Anemone and Chionodoxa.