"Planting Bulbs"
For the best results from your bulbs, you must buy from a reputable company. Buy from your local garden centre only if you're totally happy with their products. Don't go for the cheapest - but that doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive will be the best. Ask local growers which producer they use. Take their advice! Thompson & Morgan U.K. have an impressive selection in their online store if you're not sure where to go.
Planting bulbs in autumn will bring colour to your winter garden. Winter to Spring flowering bulbs include: daffodils, crocus, tulips, and many others. Decide where to plant each bulb before you start. Crocuses are nearly always a fairly low growing plant - often no more than 6-8 inches high, whereas daffodils will grow to more than 24 inches high. There are so many hybrid varieties available, that you could possibly find a dwarf daffodil and a giant crocus - Planting bulbs needs a little planning!
Prepare the ground in late summer/early autumn. Dig over the soil to around 8 inches depth and work it to a fairly fine tilth. Remove all weeds and add a little sand to help drainage if necessary.   Planting Bulbs
Bulbs can be planted from late summer to early winter - throughout autumn is best. As a general rule, a bulb should be planted three times it's length downwards! i.e. a 2 inch long bulb should be planted around 6 inches deep, a 3 inch bulb, around 9 inches deep. If you are planning to plant other bedding plants around the flowering bulbs later in the year, remember to leave enough space. Always allow a little extra space so you don't damage the root system of your flowering bulbs, when you're digging around with a trowel. If you use a special planting tool for planting bulbs, make sure the earth is still loose at the bottom of the hole, otherwise water can collect and will rot the bulb before it gets going. Although all plants need water, bulbs, along with most other garden plants hate to have their feet wet, and the ground must be well-drained with no water-logged pockets. Place the bulb in your dug hole, cover with fine soil or mixture of compost and soil. Remember to add a little sand if the ground is very wet. Firm down a little and water in.
After Care
Keep ground weed-free. DON'T use a hoe or trowel to remove weeds because you could damage the bulbs under the surface. This job must be done by hand....but it's not as bad as it sounds - there are far fewer weeds in the autumn and winter than there are in the spring and summer!
After your bulbs have flowered, you can remove any dead heads - with a pair of secateurs or pruning tools - but leave the foliage to die back on it's own. The dying leaves aren't very attractive in the spring garden, and some growers plait the leaves, or tie them in bunches.
When the plant has totally died back, you can dig up your bulbs, and keep them in a dry place until ready for planting again the following autumn. The bulbs don't HAVE to be dug up, but most professional or highly skilled amateur growers believe they should be. There is a risk of the bulbs getting eaten by slugs and bugs etc; and by drying them out in the summer, they do get a better start the following year and will probably produce more blooms. You can keep your bulb supply for many years by digging them up every year. The bulbs will also reproduce and can be separated and re-planted again.
I personally have never dug up daffodil bulbs as I've found they do very well in the climate and environment they're in. Again it's a good idea to ask local gardeners what they do. You'll probably get lots of conflicting advice! Experiment. Dig up half the bulbs and leave the other half to their fate. See what happens. Planting bulbs is definitely NOT limited to professional gardeners and park gardens. Follow the instructions on your packet of bulbs and get planting!
Happy Gardening! More "Bulbs" Reading
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