Spring bulbs

When you see the first snowdrop you know winter is ending and that spring is closer. Then the swathes of yellow daffodils bring gardens and roadsides back to life. Hyacinths bring sweet scent to the air and nod their heads in the gentle winds, then finally the tulips. So much joy from something as easy to grow as a bulb. Planted usually in the autumn, they lie beneath the cold earth waiting for the days to lengthen to grow up into the air. Here are some I have grown and some care tips.

As a rough guide, bulbs are best planted at 2 and a half times it height. So the bigger hyacinth is planted deeper than the tiny snowdrop. They like a lighter soil as clay tends to make them rot.  Once planted apart from a handful of granular feed, they need little attention.  Daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses do need lifting and spreading out every few years, but on a whole they are best left alone. Once they have flowered leave the foliage to die back naturally as the goodness goes back into the bulb, ready for the next year. I know some people lift their bulbs, but I never have, and they flourish.