Planting design - Butter's favourite bulbs

Planting Design - Butter's Favourite Bulbs

When it comes to bulbs there are two main things to remember. The autumn is when you want to plant your spring flowering bulbs and the spring is when you plant your summer flowering bulbs.

It's best to order your spring flowering bulbs early in the autumn as the best varieties tend to sell out very quickly as everyone rushes to get their orders in.

While tulips are particularly popular, I will always choose a daffodil over a tulip because the variety available is so wide and size and shape vary hugely. Unlike tulips, many daffodils are scented too.

Some of my favourite varieties of Daffodil are:

• Narcissus Canaliculatus – it is a darling little Narcissus (150mm high) with a lovely scent white petals with a rich yellow trumpet. It also flowers early heralding the start of great things to come, and is a good naturaliser!
• N. Minnow – a dear little N. with rather small flowers (200mm high) with wonderful scent, small white flower heads and pale pale yellow trumpets, it's great for pots
• N. Pink Charm – I love an orange trumpet and this is a terribly pretty variety, taller than those listed above (450mm high) and later to flower which helps to extend the season
• N. Skype – An elegant apricot trumpet with white reflexed petals, she is (350mm tall)
• N. Falconet – a wonderful yellow Narcissus with an orange crown (400mm high) sweetly scented and has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit (something to always look out for !!), she flowers mid-season
• N. Artic Bells – new to me last year, this a gorgeous tiny bulbicodium Narcissus with a frilly petals that look like a little fairy's dress, palest white (150mm high) and arrives early. She is wonderful to bring indoors so I plant her in containers that can be brought in when in flower.
• N. Geranium – fantastically scented with multi-headed white petals with an orange crown (350mm high)
• N. Paperwhite – wonderful for forcing, beautifully scented she is tall (400mm high) and needs the support of a web of branches to keep her from flopping over.

I plant most of my bulbs in pots because I find that this is the best way to manage them. In pots, they are at an easy height to tend, cut back and manage. The one bulb that I always plant in my borders are alliums, which I snake through my borders and my wildflower meadow.

Some of my most loved varieties of Allium include:

• Allium 'Purple Sensation'
• Allium 'Purple Rain'

Varieties like Allium 'Cristophii' and Allium 'Schubertii' are slightly harder to place in a garden because they are low and squat, but they are also beautiful.

Lilies are also wonderful for providing scent in the summer months, while dahlias are fantastic for late colour but they need space and support and are very hungry feeders.

I will always pick cosmos over dahlias though, because I prefer their delicate and ethereal nature. I direct sow my cosmos seeds in mid-May after my tulips have come out and I tend to mix up a variety of different seeds so that all the colours and flower varieties are mixed up together.

My favourite bulb by far though is Fritillaria meleagris, which flowers in mid-March. I put this delicate, structural plant in small pots which I bring indoors when they have flowered. If you want to plant them directly into the soil though, they like to be in a shady environment.

The Best Aspect for Different Perennials

Before you buy any perennials though, it's crucial that you think about the aspect of your garden and where you are going to position them. Most perennials need six hours of sunshine in order to thrive and be at their best. This means a south-facing or west-facing border is ideal.

If you only have a shady spot, then look to plants like Digitalis and other shade-loving perennials to fill these spaces. Make sure to think about colour too. If you're new to working with colour, then go for a colour combination that you know you like for the first year and that way you won't be disappointed. If in doubt, any colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel will work well together.

A blue & orange combination that I love is:

• Agastache 'Blue Boa'
• Geum 'Totally tangerine'

Accent this with Alchemilla mollis at the front of your border and you'll have beautiful waves of colour running the length of your garden.

If you choose two or three plants in your first year that run the whole length of your border then you'll get a beautiful carpet of planting. This is especially true in small gardens, where using repetition of the same plants is always a better idea than just having one of every plant that you like the look of.

Euphorbia

Euphorbia is another great genus of plants that can add structure and form to any garden. At the larger end is Euphorbia characias subsp. Wulfenii which is large and structural with huge flowering rosettes.

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. Robbiae is its smaller cousin and can be weaved in among other perennials down the whole length of the border.

Sourcing

• Sarah Raven
• Peter Nyssen
• Farmer Gracy
• Bulbs.co.uk
• Crocus.co.uk
• W6 Garden Centre