City Gardening

In an age of instant gratification, it’s a wonder we have the patience to plant fall bulbs at all when we know it’ll be a good five to six months before we see their flowers in bloom.Why do these plants hold such sway over our impatient tendencies? Certainly there’s a feeling of satisfaction at planting a bed of flower bulbs, and of hope that they’ll grow despite the forays of marauding squirrels, but I think it’s the anticipation of seeing brightly coloured daffodils, tulips and crocuses after months of bleak grey skies that keeps us waiting to reap the harvest of their spring beauty.

If our patience is to be rewarded, we’d better make sure the floral display is worth the wait. Few can match the ones at Keukenhof in the Netherlands where landscape designer Jacqueline van der Kloet is in charge of planting more than six million hardy bulbs on 70 acres of parkland every autumn.

“The bottom line with bulbs”, she says, “is that they have so few technical requirements (almost everything you need to know is on the packaging) that they leave you free to let your creativity run wild, as you choose from hundreds of colours and thousands of varieties and flower types.”

Even if you’re not planting up 70 acres, van der Kloet’s tips will help you create a display of bulbs that will welcome spring with flare.

Colour blocking
Forget onesy-twosy planting schemes; small clusters of bulbs sticking up at intervals throughout the flowerbed look like the sole survivors of a harsh winter. To make an impact, plant en masse and keep the colour palette simple. Plant a solid drift of red tulips behind a swathe of yellow, or choose red and pink or orange and purple combinations. Another clever design tip is to echo the colours in a two-toned tulip such as the ivory and pink ‘Garden Party’ with a drift of solid-coloured ones such as pink or cream tulips.

Double-decker plantings
Maximize your space by planting layers of bulbs that bloom at the same time. For example, smaller bulbs such as crocus and muscari will form a carpet for larger bulbs like early-flowering tulips. Dig a hole and plant the bulbs that require deeper planting (e.g tulips) at 20 centimetres (eight inches) deep, partially fill in the hole and pop in the smaller bulbs (e.g., muscari and crocus) at about 13 centimetres (five inches) deep.

Interplanting
There’s nothing worse in springtime than looking at a naked shrub. The space surrounding these deciduous shrubs make perfect planting grounds for bulbs. A drift of daffodils will brighten a bed of dormant roses and delicate bulbous irises (blue reticulata and yellow danfordiae are two of my favourites) make a cheery sight peeking out from under the airy branches of spirea or weigela.

Whichever design scheme you choose, it’s not too late to plant bulbs, especially tulips which can be planted right up until the ground freezes. Yes, it’s best to plant hardy spring bulbs as soon as soil temperatures drop to 13ºC, but if you’re left holding a bag of bulbs that should have gone into the ground before now, plant them as soon as you can – chances are good that they’ll come up in the spring.

Photos: Courtesy the Netherlands Flowerbulb Information Center