Enjoy a light-bulb moment
compost and plenty of bulbs. You can mix several different types of bulbs together in the same tub but choose ones that are slightly different heights and flower a few weeks apart, so they make a stepped arrangement that keeps going for some time instead of all being out at once.
A good mixture may include dwarf daffs and crocuses, or go for grape hyacinths plus the short, neat, waterlily-type of tulips (think fosteriana, kaufmanniana and greigii).
Try a mixture of early single or double tulips that flower in April and the wasp-waisted, lilyflowered tulips that are out in May.
Go for the shorter-growing varieties, since they withstand windy weather without breaking off the way tall varieties often do. And choose big, plump bulbs since they’ll produce far more flowers than skinnier, second-rate bulbs, even if they do cost a little bit more. Now, put it all together.
There’s a technique that gives great results. I call it the sandwich method and you’ll see why. Start by putting at least an inch of drainage material in the bottom of the tub (gravel, bits of smashed clay flower pot or broken-up polystyrene packaging are ideal).
Then spread three inches of compost over the base of the container to cover the drainage material. After that position a layer of bulbs, ideally all the same species, spaced closely together but so they are not quite touching each other or the sides of the tub.
Now add enough compost to cover these bulbs, then plant another layer of a different species above them. Keep “sandwiching” alternate layers of compost and bulbs in this way till you’ve filled the container to the top, finishing with an inch of compost that comes almost to the rim of the tub, leaving space for watering.
It makes sense to put larger bulbs lower down since they have the energy to reach the top. You may think there’ll be nothing much to see this winter while the bulbs are growing up but as long as you are careful it’s possible to plant winter pansies in the very top.
They’ll still be flowering in spring when the first bulbs bloom so they’ll add to the display.
If you want just one really stunning container for pride of place on the patio or by the front door this is the way to make a splash. And when you do, don’t economise – really go for it.