HIGH-ENERGY BULBS

winter, since these allow some light through to the ground come spring. Both are small, at around 10cm-15cm high, so it’s best to plant lots to make sure flowers don’t get lost. Appearing in early to mid-spring, most varieties of narcissus (daffodils), tulips and hyacinth pop up next. If, like me, you’re a big fan of daffs and want a spring full of them you can get early-flowering varieties like ‘February Gold’ and ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’, which will flower in winter, and follow them up with March-flowering ‘Crewenna’ and April-flowering ‘Dutchmaster’ varieties. Planting in clumps of at least six will help to strengthen your display. I love lining the garden path with them as a cheerful welcome for visitors. Pick varieties of daffodils that flower at different times for a long-lasting display and give a golden contrast to other spring plants which come up year after year

Finally, in late spring, alliums join the party. Most varieties of these prefer full sun so bear this in mind when planting. The pretty flowers are generally showier and larger than earlier-flowering bulbs but they still work best in clumps of several together for maximum impact. NOW you know when different bulbs flower, you can put this knowledge to good use with layer planting. This enables you to plant a range of bulbs with different flowering times in a single container, without sacrificing any flower space.

To do it, take a container at least 50cm deep and plant bulbs as you would layer a lasagne. Begin by adding grit for drainage and part-filling with specialist bulb compost.Next, plant a late-flowering bulb variety like Allium sphaerocephalon (round-headed garlic).

Be sure to space bulbs correctly according to their labels then cover