Creating spring bulb meadows
Imagine a spring meadow brimming with cheerful white, wine and lavender tulips and tiny white daffodils floating above a carpet of white and violet hyacinths.
Some of the tulips have leaves with narrow edges of vanilla that echo the dominant white theme. This style is far from blocks of brazen tulips we often see in a public space, it is gentle and soothing.
It’s magical on a grand scale, but can we replicate this style in our home gardens?
This delicate meadow is the work of Jacqueline van der Kloet, a Netherlands based bulb expert, commissioned to renovate a four-hectare tract at Holland’s world renowned Keukenhof Garden. Here in North America, she worked with Piet Oudolf to incorporate bulbs into New York City’s Battery Park and Chicago’s Lurie Garden.
Van der Kloet was the keynote speaker at the 2018 Gargden Writers Association garden communicators conference that I attended in August, generously sharing the story of her home garden De Theetuin (the Tea Garden) in the Netherlands. Her strategy of sprinkling bulbs among perennials and shrubs, effectively creating meadow-like plantings between a structured layout of trees, shrubs and hedges adds a sense lightness and joy to her gardens.
I believe we can easily adopt her refreshing style.
To create a naturalized planting in an existing perennial garden, van der Kloet mixes the bulbs in a wheelbarrow and then scatters them in handfuls of varying sizes among the perennials. Prune back the perennials before scattering the bulbs, otherwise, you won’t be able to find the bulbs among the foliage, she warns.
When scattering the mixed bulbs, you may get 10 of one kind together in a group, while one or two roll away and are set apart. Gardeners might be tempted to move the stray bulbs back into the fold, but Jacqueline cautions to resist this temptation. It is hard to visualize at planting time, but you end up with groups of bulbs of varying sizes scattered among the perennials, creating a meadow like look that is very painterly.
When planting bulb mixtures into established perennial borders, take the leaf shape, colour and height of the bulbs into consideration. Try to blend the bulbs in with the established plantings to make the most of your space. For example, select bulbs with variegated foliage that will pick up the colour of a neighbouring perennial, like a tulip with a yellow margined leaf near the golden emerging foliage of a hosta, or very slim leaves as an accent among mounds of perennial geraniums or lady’s mantle.
Van der Kloet recommends that we choose a colour scheme and follow through with it, a harmonious scheme makes the garden feel tranquil. Tulips and daffodils form the structure of the design, minor bulbs are used to fill in the background.
Unlike the Cornell studies quoted in last week’s column that recommend a shallower planting and deep layer of mulch, Jacqueline follows tradition when it comes to planting depth. She recommends planting tulips to a depth that is twice the height of the bulb. When planting tulips that you want to flower year after year, they should be planted at least 15 centimetres deep. Her designs are meant to be left in place to naturalize.
Back at home, I’ve been dreaming of combinations that might achieve a similar meadow-like effect on a smaller scale.
Bags of bulk tulips and daffodils that have been selected to work together is a good place to start. Without going hog out and planting bulbs by the square metre all in one go, I’ve been developing a scheme of purple, white and neon pink, so each year I add more bulbs in these colours to reinforce the theme.
Triumph tulips, that bloom midseason, work well here in my Niagara garden. Here are a few of the combinations I’m working with: Pay Bas (white with a butter coloured base), Rem’s Favourite (ivory with deep wine-purple flames) and Negrita (deep purple with wine red streaks). Also, Jimmy (fluorescent pink with a hint of gold), Ronaldo (smoky purple); Shirley (white with purple edge) with Negrita; Queen of the Night (deep purple, almost black) tucked in here and there as an accent.
In another bed, established drifts of ‘Purple Sensation’ Allium bloom just as the tulips wind down; companion plantings of miscanthus sinensis and variegated dogwood create a soft yellow-green backdrop that complements the purple allium. I’ll be planting Allium ‘Graceful Beauty’ with small white globes, speckled with purple to liven up the existing sea of purple allium and work on an underplanting of minor bulbs to add a little extra punch to the design.
For more information, look for van der Kloet’s book, “Colour Your Garden,” published by Forte Groen.
Theresa Forte is a local garden writer, photographer and speaker. You can reach her by calling 905-351-7540 or by email at theresa_forte@sympatico.ca.