PLANT YOUR SUMMER BULBS
Brighten pots and borders with a display of colourful summer bulbs
Bulbs such as crocosmia, lilies, freesia, zantedeschia, gladioli and eucomis can be planted now for summer flowers. Plant them once the soil has begun to warm up. If you garden on sandy soil in the south this could be in early March; on clay soil, in the north, wait until the start of April, or, get a head start and plant them in pots of compost instead.
✿ Planting in pots: Use loam-based John Innes No3 compost with added grit. Bulbs in plastic pots can easily be ‘plunge planted’ into the ground as the bulbs are about to flower, filling gaps in borders. This is particularly useful if you garden on heavy clay because many bulbs won’t survive winter in a cold, wet, claggy soil. In autumn, just lift and store the potted bulbs in a dry spot for replanting the following spring.
✿ Planting in the ground: Dig individual holes, three times the depth of the bulb. Position the bulb with its pointy end upwards and cover with soil. Space about 2-3 bulb-widths apart and label each hole so you don’t dig up the bulb when you come to plant out annuals/perennials later.