Fall in love with jewel-box gems
These shining treasures come in gold, sapphire and pearly white. Val Bourne chooses her favourites
These shining treasures come in gold, sapphire and pearly white. Here’s how to use them
Spring starts on the ground. It rouses first in warm areas, where afternoon sunshine falls, and in semi-shaded spots protected and drained by overhead trees and deciduous shrubs. It’s here that these little gems appear early and shine against the bare earth, announcing to the world the arrival of spring.
It’s always a race to see which flower emerges first. If we get plenty of winter sunshine and colder days, it might be one of the smaller crocuses but if the weather is dull, wet and warm the frontrunner will probably be a snowdrop, unfurling from a diamond-shaped spear of white and green. However, in a dry season the jaunty springf lowering Cyclamen coum may reign supreme instead. Or it could be the winter aconite, Eranthis hyemalis, that steals the crown.
After the first arrivals there are anemones, scillas, smaller narcissi and irises. They’re all vital for early-flying pollinators, so it’s important that we gardeners
“It’s worth tickling winter aconite flowers with a paintbrush”
grow flowers that perform early in the year. You don’t need to worry too much about colour schemes in early spring, but by all means organise these early risers into attractive drifts of colour. Some bulbs will produce offsets and bulk up on their own; others spread by self-seeding (so don’t deadhead them). Allowing them to self sow is the best way to naturalise early-flowering species such as Scilla siberica, Cyclamen coum and Eranthis hyemalis, which largely come true from seed. Self-seeding depends on a pollinator being around so, in cold winters when bees may be reluctant to fly, it’s worth going round tickling your winter aconite flowers (for instance) with a paintbrush in order to spread the pollen about.
Other bulbs, such as snowdrops, bulk up by producing offsets underground so you have to make a fine judgement whether to divide them or not. If they’re doing well, leave them to it. If you find the flowers are dwindling, it’s worth dividing them. Wait for the foliage to flag so you have nice plump bulbs to deal with.