I love daffodils and spring bulbs. To get the best from these wonderful flowers, I plant up a dozen plastic aquatic baskets with spring bulbs...
I love daffodils. To get the best from these wonderful flowers, I plant up a dozen plastic aquatic baskets with spring bulbs in autumn, choosing varieties that flower at different times. When spring arrives, I pop one basket after another into the top of the container on my patio, so as one fades another takes its place.
By planting bulbs in baskets instead of directly in the pot, I avoid locking up a lovely container with a single display, and prolong the show of beautiful spring bulbs.
The trick is to create a long flowering season and not have all the bulbs blooming at the same time. By checking packets or catalogues when buying bulbs it's easy to estimate which plants flower in early, mid or late-March, and which bloom later from April onwards. It’s quite surprising how different bulbs' flowering times are. For example, one catalogue showed how to plan for 100 days of flowers from daffodils alone. Tulips are equally versatile, but add in crocus, hyacinth, fritillaries, snowdrops, anemone and others and you've suddenly created a long and interesting season of spring flowers.
Another advantage of growing bulbs in baskets is that I can keep watering and feeding them to ensure they continue growing and die down naturally. Once their flowers have finished I just lift from the patio pot and stand them in a bright corner of the garden where they can continue their growing cycle.
Of course, bulb baskets can also be used to fill gaps in borders, too. Just sink one into the soil for an instant display. What could be simpler!
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