DESIGN TIPS

• Tuck a bunch of bulbs between perennials, shrubs or rocks to create a strong visual spring statement.

• Bulbs are stunning by themselves, but they are breathtaking in colourful combinations. In contemporary gardens, pick colours that complement your hardscape. In co age gardens, just go wild.

• The big, bold masses of flowering bulbs that look so amazing in parks can be expensive and impractical in your garden. Scale it back to just two or three colours in informal shapes and forms that follow the lines of your beds.

• Pair bulbs with early-winter hardy blooming perennials such as pansies, periwinkles, hellebores and creeping phlox.