There's only one way to resist the temptation of buying more bulbs and that's not to visit any garden centres at all for the next few months...
There's only one way to resist the temptation of buying more bulbs and that's not to visit any garden centres at all for the next few months! I remember the 'problem' I had last year. First of all it was lilies, their pictorial packs screaming out for my attention, and soon ending up with a new owner. Then, having satisfied my desire for lilies, I'd visit another garden centre where other temptations — dahlias, begonias, gladioli — would prove irresistible.
Pictorial packs are designed to be irresistible. Those open boxes of loose bulbs just aren't the same. They may be a bit cheaper, but pictorial packs provide something to focus on while waiting for the bulbs to bloom.
Last spring I bought a wonderful new variety of lily called 'Strawberry & Cream'. A pack of two plump, healthy lily bulbs — it's important to check if they're firm and healthy — cost £1.99. I reasoned that three packs wouldn't break the bank, and would be sufficient for me to create the lily feature I was dreaming of.
Each lily bulb was planted straight away in its own 20cm pot. These were grown on in my unheated greenhouse for a few months as I watched each produce a tall stem tipped with flower buds, before I planted them out in a group. The resulting lily 'forest', pictured above, looked magnificent. Each bulb produced just one stem, but each was topped by an eruption of six or so bright trumpets.
The lilies reigned supreme for several weeks in high summer. After they finished flowering I left them in place to grow and die down naturally. I'm hoping they'll return for an encore in 2009.
I'll need to visit the garden centre this weekend to buy some compost. Should I walk past the display of pictorial bulb packs?
See more comments...
