Summer bulbs delight
Plant a variety now for months of colour, says Ruth
THERE is a bulb, tuber, corm or rhizome for every season, but those that flower from late spring through summer and right into autumn are the most glorious. Think alliums, dahlias, lilies, freesias, canna lilies, ranunculus, Mirabilis jalapa, crocosmia and tuberosa, not to mention autumn-flowering nerines. Phew!
They combine exotic, vibrant colours with interesting foliage and a generous nature that means that many varieties are as happy in containers as they are in the ground.
Planted now, they should flower this year and then mature and multiply as the years pass, creating ever-better displays of colour and interest.
Whether you buy your bulbs online, from garden centres or on impulse as part of the supermarket run, you will be spoilt for choice and may find your eye caught by something new and exotic.
Many summer bulbs (the umbrella term for tubers, corms, rhizomes) need to be lifted and stored somewhere cool and dry before winter. These varieties include begonias, dahlias, cannas, gladioli and freesias, and those that have overwintered should be checked now to make sure they are still healthy.
Dahlias and begonias can be potted up in peat-free compost until they start to shoot and others can be planted out in a sunny, free-draining spot in enriched soil once the threat of frosts has passed.
Brand new bulbs get the same treatment. Just remember to mark the spot where they have been planted, so you don’t accidentally spear them with a fork or dig them up after their foliage has died back in autumn.
If you find some of last year’s unplanted bulbs lurking at the back of the shed, plant them too. If they are soft and rotten, dispose of them but shrivelled ones may recover after being soaked in water to rehydrate them. They may not perform as well in their first year, but it’s worth trying, just in case!