SPOTLIGHT ON
WALLFLOWERS & SPRING BULBS
Wallflowers are the first sign that spring is in full swing. Usually sold in pots, they’re available around now, just coming into flower, to use as instant spring bedding.
Wallflowers team perfectly with spring bulbs such as daffodils, but my favourite combination is wallflowers and tulips.
Just one tubful is all it takes to instantly transform your patio or front doorstep.
If you’re buying pot-grown wallflowers, give the pots a thorough soak if the compost is dry. Then tip the plants carefully out and plant them in a wide tub, with a sprinkling of potted tulips with buds that are still fairly tight.
Then enjoy the show – it should last six weeks or so. Also look out for perennial wallflowers that are close relatives, flowering on and off from now until October. Specialist nurseries stock several but the one you’re most likely to find is Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’. Grow in a sunny spot with reasonably well-drained soil.