Blue Daisy Blog

This month we should start to notice the sun warming up, the grass starting to grow and of course the early spring bulbs will be gracing us with their presence brightening up our borders and generally making us smile! The weather though this month can be changeable so don’t be tempted to remove any protective fleeces on your planted out tender plants. And for any you've stored under cover over winter, we can still have some sharp frosts so you may need to keep them safe until the threat of frosts has passed.

With the sun’s warmth getting stronger though the germination of weeds will begin in earnest now so it is really important to hoe them out. Any perennial weeds will need to be dug out now before they really start to take hold. Applying mulch to the soil this time of year is good because it will keep all the moisture in and cut down on the amount of weeds germinating.

Spring bulb displays can be spectacular and there’s likely to be a new destination on the spring bulb display calendar next year and for the foreseeable future as Sidmouth in Devon embarks on a ‘Plant a Million Bulbs’ challenge in response to a £2.3 million legacy gift that was made by a Canadian banker, Keith Owen, who was originally born nearby, and whose mother had retired to Sidmouth.  

Mr Owen died of lung cancer but made arrangements to leave his retirement fund, his pension and some properties to Sid Vale Association with instructions that his gift should be spent locally keeping Sidmouth beautiful. One of his specific suggestions was to plant a million bulbs in verges, gardens, lawns and borders around the town.

Yes, that’s right and there’s no better time than late autumn to plan for spring!  The garden centres, nurseries and in some cases even supermarkets have huge amounts of spring flowering bulbs for sale right now so it really is the perfect time to buy and plant them.   Just the sight of snowdrops or daffodils can make even us feel just a little excited that spring is on the way and the cold Winter months are being left far behind us.  Spring plants are also one of the earliest sources of nectar for our emerging bees and other pollinating insects that really need do need a food source.

Some people I have spoken to see bulbs on sale and buy a selection of those they know or have heard of and plant them up and there is nothing wrong with that at all.  However, if this is you why not try something different this year and here’s a few questions to ask yourself which could influence your decision:

• What bulbs did you buy last year?  
• Does your garden have a particular colour scheme throughout the year?
• Are you aware of any planting gaps in the borders around spring?

Once you have the answers to these questions you’ll have more of an idea how to plan for early colour next year.   If you don’t have a colour scheme in your garden don’t worry just try to think of a pleasing colour scheme and use it to plan for spring, it will be fun!  

There are so many different varieties of tulips some are late spring and others early summer but you can find those that are a solid colour and others mixed.   Let’s take soft, muted pinks and purples as our colour scheme for this example Tulips, e.g. Tulipa ‘China Pink’, T. ‘Ballade’ (see main photo, above), T. ‘Greuze’ or T. ‘Queen of the Night’.  So, where do daffodils fit with these colours?  There are several varieties of daffodils that are white or cream with limited yellow in the centre so you could look out for those rather than the bright yellow ones that are likely to clash e.g. Narcissus ‘Actaea’ (photo, left) or N. ‘Cool Crystal’.  White is a colour that is often used sparingly in planting design for the eye to naturally rest and this provides a comfortable break or pause from colours.  Snowdrops will do this perfectly, there are so many different varieties why not try a different one this year?  You could try Galanthus ‘Atkinsii’ or G. elwesii. There are a huge variety of bulbs or other small flowering plants in so many different colour schemes that can add interest in your spring garden such as Fritillaria meleagris, Anemone blanda ‘White Splendour’, Eryanthis hyemalis, Muscari armeniacum, Primula vulgaris also crocus and various cylamen.

Once you have decided upon your bulbs check which months they flower to ensure that you have colour as early as possible and every month right through until your established garden plants begin to come into their own.  Don’t forget to plant up your containers too as they will give you more interest and you can move them around the garden. If you have squirrels in your area lay some chicken wire or similar over the containers for protection until they start to grow.

The next stage is to buy them and remember a tool to plant them with, if you have only bought a few you would get away with a hand held tool if you’ve bought a lot it would be worth investing in one with a long handle that you can use standing up.  Buying the right tools for the job makes the job much more pleasurable and less painful!!  

We’ve only really touched lightly on planning for spring, if you want to know what to do now for your garden in spring give us a call we’ll be happy to come out and give you some advice.