“Why not plant some unusual bulbs for next spring?” says Anne
Their names may be unfamiliar but it’s worth getting to know the likes of Portuguese squill, evergreen false sea onion and puschkinia, says Anne Swithinbank
FOR gardeners, autumn is bulb planting time. Accompanied by visions of how spring will look when daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and crocuses open their colourful blooms, we fill our borders and containers with these deceptively unexciting little packages. But as well as new varieties of old favourites, why not widen the net and try something completely different for next spring? Many more unusual bulbs are reasonably priced yet give so much. Glamorous colours and shapes light up the greenhouse or garden, and there’s the excitement of discovering their origin, habitat and how to coax them into bloom.
My love affair with plants that grow from bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes started back in the 1970s when, as a teenager, I spent my Saturdays working in our local pet and garden shop. Every autumn, boxes of bulbs would be delivered, and the boss had usually ordered a few unusual kinds. This is how I first came nose to nose with the large, foxy-smelling bulbs of Fritillaria imperialis
– and ended up taking some home in lieu of pay. Watching their 3ft (1m) stems of nodding orange flowers topped by green bracts develop, I was soon hooked.
Many lesser-known smaller bulbs – the scillas, chionodoxas and puschkinias – work well in large numbers. Planted around the base of trees and shrubs, they’ll make pools of early colour. Others solve problems of waterlogging or drought. Blooming in spring (despite the name), the summer snowflake (Leucojum
aestivum) resembles a giant snowdrop and easily tolerates badly drained, almost waterlogged soil and some shade, while Portuguese squill (Scilla peruviana) is the answer to a sunny, well-drained bed that dries out fast in summer, Try it for explosions of starry, purple-blue or white flowers on plants 1ft (30cm) tall.
For the windowsill, zany evergreen false sea onion (Ornithogalum longibracteatum) will be a talking point. A fat green bulb topped by strappy
leaves develops a long, winding stem – to 5ft/1½m – of small white flowers.
Almost all bulbs work well in pots, and you’ll be able to move them around if you need to. Brodiaea californica’s lilac blooms make a pink haze in borders; but it’s up close that the umbels of striped buds and lilac stars really come to life.
Whatever you choose, however you use them, grab a trowel and get planting.