Readers’ gardens
Grows a huge variety of spring bulbs in his Northern Ireland garden.
Spring has come slowly this year. Apart from a couple of mild and sunny days the weather has still been cold with night frosts and low daytime temperatures. Despite this I gave the lawnmower a spring clean and mowed the lawn with the blades set high. Luckily my soil is sandy and dries quickly.
Early daffodils are providing sunny colour outside while the miniature daffodils inside are in bloom and I’m pleased with some seedlings. A pot of mixed Narcissus cyclamineus seedlings are showing some white flowers, which was the aim of the cross made five years ago.
Another miniature yelloworange N. cyclamineus seedling also looks promising, and one bulb, which must have been dropped beside the fence a few years ago, has thrived on neglect and is sporting a dozen flowers!
The crocus in pots and outside in the garden did well, and a couple of corydalis in pots have put on quite a show. While tidying up the veg plot I found some white crocus in full bloom. They’d probably arrived there after being discarded from old pots in the compost heap. I decided to move them and was amazed to find the corms were more than 30cm deep, yet had still managed to produce perfect flowers. I’ve removed the growing tips from sweet peas in the tunnel to encourage strong sideshoots. Nasturtium, lobelia and parsley seeds have been sown in the greenhouse and the double delphiniums are showing new growth. I’ve divided a couple to give a dozen rooted cuttings, which were potted up. In March I visited Holland’s Breezand show with the Northern Ireland Daffodil Group. Here, growers display forced bulbs so buyers can see their latest products, which included lilies, iris, tulips, snowdrops, muscari, amaryllis, fritillarias and daffodils. All were presented against a background of seascapes. Floral arrangements included a mermaid, octopus, large clam and chests of jewels. I was amazed that the thousands of flowers were assembled in one day. Needless to say, we came home with new plants!