Looking at photos from two years ago it seems that my spring bulbs are later to come into flower this year. Of course that might be purely because I was slow in planting them in the autumn – I just couldn’t work up the enthusiasm. Of course when you see the little beauties emerging from the pots all that drudgery is forgotten.
(Please click on any image to scroll through the gallery)
I bought several different varieties of (1) Muscari, including ‘Pink Sunrise’, ‘Latifolium’, ‘Night Eyes’, ‘Mount Hood’ and ‘ Ocean Magic’ planting them in containers. (2) New anemones this year are Anemone Hollandia and Anemone St Brigid, having not planted any last year. Unfortunately they got blasted by the February storms so have suffered somewhat, as well as a nibble or two! I also bought more (3) Ipheion bulbs as I love these pretty star-shaped flowers. I only found the white ones, but I shall be on the look out for blue and pink this autumn. I am going to leave these in the bowl as those I transferred to the garden seem to have disappeared. There are several bowls of (4) Narcissus ‘Tête-à-tête’ all from previous years though re-potted in fresh compost. (5) The Crocuses have mostly finished now, but I discovered a pretty clump in an unexpected place when cutting back the coral Penstemon. I planted a lot of the white Dutch Crocus ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ a few years ago, but only two popped up this March. It is such a beautiful icy white that I must buy more to weave amongst the purple and striped ones. And coming in at (6) is a pretty pink Hyacinth which is from an old container which I had forgotten contained hyacinths. I also spotted a couple of blue ones coming up in the garden which I had forgotten had been transferred there. The wonderful thing about bulbs is that you never quite know what might appear where.
As always, if you want a peek over other people’s garden walls then please pop over to our host, the lovely Jon, AKA ‘The Propagator’ where you find links to many more wonderful garden enthusiasts from all over the world.
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Cornwall in Colours 
Gorgeous colours and very jealous of your muscari. I haven’t had much luck with them here, just a few blue ones.
They are supposed to come up each year and can become quite thuggish, but the ones in my raised beds are not spreading much. I should have blue and white ones there.
A lovely, cheering selection. I especially like the stripey hyacinth. It’s hard to remember during the chore of bulb planting that all the effort will be worthwhile come the spring.
The thought of what might emerge from the pots keeps me going through the winter months, but I really had to force myself to plant them last October. Silly really because once I started it didn’t take long.
As snow and ice once again surround us we spend our time looking at seed and plant catalogs. Perhaps the soil will thaw out enough to plant something again!
At least I don’t have to worry about snow or ice! Wind and rain are my bugbears.
Ooh you have a lovely and colourful spring bulb display! ❤
Thank you. Glad you like them. 😊 It should be better in a week or two. And then there will be the tulips, my absolute favourites.
Yeah mine too! 🌸
They’re beautiful, Jude – a lovely reward to your hard work. I must have a go at planting bulbs in pots this year. We’re coming up to the time when they would need to go in.
I was late planting these. I usually get them done in September, with tulips a bit later, but I had no enthusiasm last autumn. It is nice to pop out each day and see what is coming up.
Bulbs really do lighten the mood just when you need it. I have a random crop of daffodils left behind from a previous planting that pop out each year.
I love that Ipheion in the last photo.
Lovely to hear from you H. The ipheions are lovely, even more in flower now than just the other day, but difficult to photograph in the wind! Hope all is good with you and the family. 😊
Such a beautiful and colourful collection
I thought I’d try some new ones this year, hence the muscari. But I do need new irises as not many have returned.
Does anybody positively embrace bulb planting, I wonder?! Admittedly, I now find that bringing the smaller pots indoors to plant them with bulbs makes it easier, but planting them in the ground will always be one of my least favourite garden tasks! Yours look lovely grouped together and those pink muscari are really pretty. Any advice on the anemones? I have never had any success with them but would like to try again
I only put bulbs from pots in the ground, though I don’t have many spaces left to do that now. With these anemones I soaked them for 2-3 hours and planted them in a gritty mix of bulb compost and peat free compost, on their sides, which is how Farmer Gracy advises.
Thanks for the tip for the anemones, Jude, I will try them again next year
How enjoyable to see these colorful blooms! Spring has arrived. 🙂 🙂
It’s certainly making an appearance. More bulbs coming up each day. 😊