Tips for success

Most bulbs detest wet or boggy conditions. In gardens where drainage is poor, consider growing them in feature pots. Pots are also the perfect solution for balconies, patios and smaller garden spaces, where different species of bulbs can be grown together for a varied and extended display.

Purchase only fresh bulbs. Resist ‘late-season specials’ that may have been sitting on shelves in storage for many weeks. They will be weak from the start, and never perform as well as intended. Bulbs should be plump and firm to the touch. Avoid any that are either spongy or shrivelled and dry.

Most bulbs like to be planted to a depth at least double their height. Exceptions include jonquils, which benefit from deeper planting to about 25cm in warm areas, and hippeastrums, which prefer to be planted with their necks exposed above soil level.

Don’t remove foliage too early from deciduous bulbs, including freesias, ixias, babianas, jonquils, hippeastrums and November lilies. Allow the foliage to die down naturally at this vital time when nutrients are being drawn back down into the bulb to provide energy for flowering the following year. An application of slow-release fertiliser during this time can be beneficial.

Deadhead jonquils as soon as they finish flowering by removing only the flowers and leaving the stalk in place. Don’t tie the foliage into knots, like some gardeners do, as this hinders the transfer of nutrients from the foliage back down into the bulb.

Watch out for voracious chewing insects, such as grasshoppers and caterpillars (the crinum caterpillar, in particular), if you want to enjoy the handsome foliage that follows the flowers of many bulbs. Apply neem oil before and after flowering to reduce insect damage.