SPRINGTIME JEWELS
I always like to plant up a few small pots of bulbs in the autumn to overwinter outside or in a cold greenhouse so that I am able to bring these into the house in early spring – they really help to lift the mood. It’s an incredible treat to be able to enjoy their vibrancy and detail close up. The height of the lunaria gave a layered feel to the planting with the generous carpeting foliage of the viola as the understorey and the bulbs popping through at mid height.
How to achieve the look
Container and composition
I like the faded tones on this old bread bin. Its soft green tones provide a good foil for the dark foliage of the viola and lunaria. The handles make it really easy to move around and the height means the plants can send deep roots down which enables them to persist for longer. I made holes in the bottom with a metal drill bit. I don’t use crocks unless I’m short of compost and need to bulk out a large container – but I do tend to line the container with something, such as old bits of woven landscape fabric or clumps of sheep wool to stop the compost seeping out of the holes. As an alternative you could use an old woollen jumper which would also help to retain moisture.
Cultivation and care
Leave the lunaria to develop seedpods, which you can then collect and sow either in the ground or in pots. They are biennial so sow them early enough in the summer that they make strong growth that year. It will then either flower the following spring or will bulk up its foliage to flower the year after. The muscari and scilla are reliably perennial bulbs so are worth planting out in the garden when they have finished flowering, either in among the viola, which will seed about and form a good groundcover, or among other perennials near the front of a bed. The muscari also looks really good planted through black mondo grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Kokuryu’, either in a planter or in the ground.
Plants
1 Muscari latifolium Dramatic, two-toned dark- and pale-blue flowers. Forces easily in pots. 15cm. AGM. RHS H6, USDA 3a-8b.
2 Scilla ‘Pink Giant’ Star-shaped, pale-pink flowers on dark stems. One of the earliest bulbs to appear and shows up well among dark foliage. 15cm. RHS H6, USDA 3a-8b.
3 Viola riviniana Purpurea Group Heart-shaped, purple-tinged leaves with long-lasting violet flowers. Good groundcover. 10cm. RHS H7.
4 Lunaria annua ‘Chedglow’ Dark, heart-shaped leaves and magenta flowers provide early interest. Seedpods make an attractive late summer feature too. 70cm. RHS H6.