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.