Cook up a bulb lasagne
Pack in your favourite flavours of spring for a feast of flowers in 2022
THE weather has been unseasonably warm for the time of year and I’ve spent the past week planting up a coastal garden and enjoying the sun and gentle sea breezes.
However I’m quickly reminded in our supermarket that we are rapidly approaching Halloween – as the aisles are packed with pumpkins, peanuts and party outfits.
But along with your basket of trick or treat goodies, why not pick up some gardening goodies as well – I find the packets of bulbs equally tempting! This week I’ve gathered a selection of my favourites and I’m planting up a big pot, stuffed full with bulbs, all layered on top of each other so that they will flower successively.
This trick is known as a bulb lasagna and I’ll give you the recipe...
Any size pot or container will do as long as it has some drainage. Without drainage, your bulbs will end up a pile of soggy mush by next spring.
The bigger the container, the more interest you can pack in. Ensure you have bulbs that start flowering in January and February such as crocus and iris. You can keep it going until the end of May – or early June if you use alliums.
It’s ideal for when you don’t have a lot of space, you’re gardening on a terrace or balcony, or you’re looking for something decorative for outside the front door. It’s exciting because there is always something new about to arrive. Use multi-purpose peatfree compost, but really any growing medium is fine as bulbs are not too fussy.
You can put a layer of grit at the bottom to aid drainage.
Now throw a couple of handfuls of compost onto the bottom. Always place the largest bulbs at the bottom and the smallest at the top. In this case I started with Allium ‘Metallic Shine’, a large variety with iridescent star shaped purple flowers. Place these on compost – as many as you can without them touching each other. I was able to fit four in each.
Check bulbs before planting – if they are at all mouldy or squishy to the touch they are only good for the bin.
Now cover this layer with some compost so the bulbs are no longer visible and start your next layer. In this case I put Narcissus ‘Fortune’ which is a large cupped daffodil with yellow petals and deep orange corona. Again, pop on a layer of compost and next comes a layer of tulips – ‘Showwinner’ which is a low growing variety with scarlet petals. Keep building up the layers – the amount you can fit in will depend on your pot size. I added a layer of Fritillaria meleagris, the snakeshead fritillary, and finished with a final layer of Scilla siberica, the Siberian squill which has dainty blue nodding bellshaped flowers.
Cover the last layer of bulbs with a layer of compost. Don’t worry about planting bulbs straight on top of each other – they will always find a route through, even if they have to bend their stems around their neighbours. Bulbs planted the wrong way round will usually find their way to the light as well.
Then you top the whole lot off with seasonal bedding such as some cheerful primula, winter pansies or even some white or red cyclamen as it would be pretty boring looking at bare soil until next spring. Gaultheria procumbens with its seasonal berries or some Bellis perennis are also suitable candidates.
THE CUPRA FORMENTOR IS A REAL TOUR DE FORCE
A lot of ideas which will endear... not to mention the blistering performance
BY any standards a 2.0-litre car that boasts 300bhp is impressive.
But that’s the sort of power that we have come to expect from the new standalone Spanish performance brand Cupra.
The new Cupra Formentor 2.0litre is a real tour de force which delivers on every front.
It’s an SUV Coupe which comes with four sensible driving modes convenience, offroad, sport and individual - and one insane one Cupra mode.
Switch to Cupra mode and everything changes. The engine note suddenly increases by several decibels, the gears are held onto for much longer and the Formentor grows horns.
With a top speed of 155 miles per hour and a 0-62 mph acceleration time of just 4.9 seconds this is not a car for the faint hearted.
Even Lewis Hamilton would be impressed - particularly with the
Formula 1-style push button starter on the steering wheel.
And with four-wheel-drive its tenacious grip is just as impressive as its acceleration.
But despite its blistering performance there is a gentler side to this car when you need it. Switch to convenience mode and you have an ideal long distance tourer with a softer ride and toned down sports characteristics.
The Formentor is a striking looking SUV with a dramatic looking grille featuring the copper coloured Cupra symbol at the centre of it.
Then there are 19-inch matte black and silver alloy wheels, twin exhausts chiselled body lines and muscular haunches. And in the new matte finish (an £1,800 extra) it stands out even more.
The interior has an upmarket sporting feel to it with black Nappa leather heated bucket seats with copper-coloured stitching and the Cupra symbol embroidered in the headrests.
Copper coloured highlights also feature on the air vents and the steering wheel in contrast to the
mainly black trim. Other features worthy of mention include self parking, a heated steering wheel, a rear view camera and a powered tailgate.
And I particularly like Cupra’s new take on the blind spot warning system which alerts you when cars are overtaking.
Most manufacturers use a warning light on the exterior mirrors but Cupra uses the ambient lighting strip on the interior door trim to give a bright orange flash you can’t miss.
From behind the wheel the tall stance of this five-door SUV ensures good all round vision and easy parking.
The 7-speed automatic gearbox is operated via a small lever rather than a traditional gearshift to save space and the cockpit is pretty clutter free as most controls are operated via the 12-inch central touch screen, Drive this car hard in Cupra mode and it’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face, particularly if you change gear manually with the paddles behind the steering wheel a la Lewis Hamilton - but it will obviously increase fuel consumption.
But cleverly Cupra have thought of that because when you are not in a hurry and ease off the accelerator the car goes into eco function - in effect coasting - which helps to balance up your fuel bills.
And over a week’s driving I even managed to exceed the official fuel consumption of 32.8 mpg and still enjoy the Cupra’s superb performance.
Cupra may be a relatively new performance brand but there’s no doubting it’s got a lot of ideas which will endear it to potential customers - not to mention the appeal of its blistering performance.