When visiting large gardens during spring, I always admire the drifts of dwarf flowering bulbs growing up through wide expanses of grass.
When visiting large gardens during spring, I always admire the drifts of dwarf flowering bulbs growing up through wide expanses of grass. Catch them when flowers are at their best and they look magnificent. They could be snowdrops or crocus, dainty dwarf narcissi or delicate snake's head fritillaries – I love them all.
Like many others I'm sure, I try to work out the cost of these massed plantings of thousands of bulbs. I also think of the sheer effort that goes into planting these areas, transformed for just a few short weeks, before all trace of the bulbs is mown away.
Of course, once established, bulbs will readily multiply. Planting bulbs in my own small lawn somehow isn't the same, though - my garden doesn't have the breathtaking scale of open grassland.
I've tried, of course, scattering crocus in a haphazard way to try and reflect a natural effect. They've grown and flowered, but then grass needs to be left for several weeks for the bulbs to complete their life cycle and die down naturally before it can be cut. It does look untidy I admit, and my wife just doesn't like the look of flowers growing in the lawn. She loves their cheery spring colour in pots and borders, but not in the lawn.
But this year I'm hoping to prove her wrong. In addition to trying again with a few delicate crocuses I've also planted an area with Fritillaria meleagris, the snake's head fritillary. I've always loved these bulbs, and have been lucky enough to find them growing naturally in meadows in some parts of the country.
This is actually my second attempt. I did plant some in my lawn a few years ago, but not a single one grew! I know they prefer a damp site, so perhaps my area of grass was too dry to get them established. A few dozen bulbs are now cosy beneath a turf overcoat, and this time the area is being regularly watered to ensure they grow.
Now I'll have to wait and see if they grow. And if they do, will my wife insist I go straight out with the mower to return our lawn to its natural state? Watch this space...
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