Treasures of the landscape, flower bulbs make wonderful garden plants, so choosing them should be a much loved activity. When the winter frost becomes a little too unforgiving, a flower (that you had perhaps forgotten about) will appear in your garden; heralding the approach of spring. Garden or not, bulbs can be grown in many settings, from window boxes to vast grassland. They can even be grown indoors! As such, you really have no excuse to not try growing your own…
Before choosing your flower bulbs, try to answer our questions below. These will help you decide which planting scheme to embrace, which will be one of the following:
Does your garden (or planting site) have a lot of shade?
Why do we ask this? If your planting location receives less sunlight (for example, it may have dappled shade due to surrounding trees) then embracing a Woodland Garden theme is a wonderful way to brighten up your space!
Are you planting in pots or containers?
Why do we ask this? Perhaps you are working with a patio or balcony space, or wish to grow something indoors. If you are, then the Tidy Garden will be the best planting idea for you. This involves planting flower bulbs ‘above’ the ground.
Do you have a larger sized garden that needs more flower bulbs?
Why do we ask this? If you are working with a bigger garden and wish to plant at least 50 bulbs, then our Country Garden theme will be best suited to your planting requirements.
Do you have a garden that isn’t too big, but not too small? And you neither want an overly complicated display?
Why do we ask this? Many gardeners desire a planting arrangement that is simple, but impactful. This is especially true for those with a small to medium sized garden who like to keep their outdoor space nice and manageable. If this is you, then our Easy Garden style is perfect for you!
After answering these questions, you have probably identified which garden style to go for. Below, we breakdown how to go about achieving each look, and recommend the best bulb varieties (and collections) for doing so.
The Woodland Garden
The woodland garden is a garden surrounded by deciduous trees, which results in a smaller amount of sunlight reaching the ground. Because of this, certain varieties will thrive in these sun dappled conditions, while others won’t. To achieve a planting scheme reminiscent of this classic, naturalising look, we suggest Common Bluebells, Snowdrops, and Winter Aconite.
The Tidy Garden
The wonderful thing about growing flower bulbs in pots is that you can provide the most optimal conditions if your garden cannot. While many varieties do happily grow in pots or containers, keep in mind that the taller the plant, the larger the pot.
Dwarf daffodils, such as ‘Tête-à-tête’ will work perfectly in a container, where it will grace your garden with its radiant yellow blooms from early spring. Grape Hyacinths are fitting flower bulbs too. While their vigorously spreading habits can bother some gardeners, they will behave when planted in pots.
If you are wanting to grow bulbs indoors, then Hyacinth ‘Woodstock’ will prove a reliable choice. The velvety purple blooms will release a strong floral fragrance that will fill a room – so need to buy a diffuser. Please note, Hyacinth bulbs can irritate the skin, so wear gloves when handling.
The Country Garden
The Country Garden is orientated around larger spaces, and because of this, larger displays too! When choosing your flower bulbs, we encourage you to have only a few varieties, but plant them abundantly. Some of the most beautiful planting schemes consist of long drifts of the same variety.
‘Ice King’ is a stunning daffodil, admired for its white outer petals and yellow corona, which will eventually mature to ivory. We recommend planting it in a long row along a bank or bed for swathes of soft colour. If you are into richer colours, Tulip ‘Queen of Night’ will make a real impact with its deep mahogany flowers.
The Easy Garden
The Easy Garden is all about enjoying an effortless flowering show, all year round. In light of this, the term ‘spring flowering bulbs’ is slightly misleading – you will actually find that there’s a bulb for every month of the year. For the longest succession of blooms, choose a mix of bulbs that collectively flower from late winter to summer.
Narcissus ‘Pheasant’s Eye’ poses a unique take on the traditional Daffodil. It features white petals that encircle their red and yellow centre, creating the appearance of a Pheasant’s Eye (explaining its memorable name). A wonderful flower for ringing in spring, this variety will look lovely planted in smaller quantities.
Very easy to grow, Allium caeruleum will also add height and true blue colour to your garden come summer, while our Tulip ‘Sorbet Mix’ will fill in the flowering gap between the aforementioned varieties.
Did you like what you saw? This blog has only revealed a snippet of our beautiful range of flowering bulbs – visit primrose.co.uk to view our full list of varieties and collections!