Thinking ahead: it’s not too late to plant for spring colour!
Posted:16 November 2014
If you get cracking it’s not too late to plant tulip bulbs in the next week or two. They are very easy to grow and look fabulous planted in large groups in borders or in containers on the patio. In fact unlike daffodil and other spring-flowering bulbs, tulips should be planted into the borders quite late in the year to help prevent Tulip Fire infection.
Tulips like fertile, well-drained soil in full sun, sheltered from strong winds. Avoid excessively wet areas as this might cause your bulbs to rot.
Apply a handful of chicken manure pellets before planting to help nutrient-poor soils; and improve clay and sandy soils, making them more suitable for tulips, by incorporating organic matter into the soil. Use only healthy bulbs, discarding any that show signs of damage or mould. Scatter randomly, then plant at least twice the bulb’s width apart and at a depth of two or three times the bulbs height.
If you plan to lift your bulbs after flowering, plant in a bulb planting tray sunk into the soil so that they be easily lifted and dried for re-planting the following autumn.
Video: creating a bulb lasagne with Sarah Raven
Bare root roses can be planted anytime between now and mid-March (though avoid planting in the middle of winter when the ground is frozen). They should be planted as soon as received, and if you can’t plant in position immediately, then ‘heel in’ (temporarily plant).
To heel them in, choose a sheltered, shady site and dig a V-shaped trench. Make the trench wide and deep enough to accommodate the plants roots and long enough to prevent crowding. Place the plants in the trench at an angle, making sure the roots are below ground level. Refill the trench with soil (dont pack it down) and water the plants thoroughly.
To get your roses off to a good start, mix in at least one bucket of rotted manure, ideally farmyard manure, in the area where roses are to be planted, and apply general fertilizer over the surface and fork it in. Try planting garlic between your new roses to help deter aphids and blackfly.
Check out our favourite rose nursery Peter Beales for bare root roses to order now http://www.classicroses.co.uk
Now is also a good time to plant out spring-flowering bedding. These are biennials or perennials, which are planted from September to November, such as Wallflowers, Sweet William, Forget-me-nots, Bellis, Stocks, Primula, Pansies and Violas. Most will flower throughout the winter during milder spells, before putting on a burst of vigorous growth in the spring.
Plant them into well- prepared ground, or pots of all-purpose compost in beds, borders, containers, window boxes or hanging baskets, and intermix with tulips for a ‘layered’ display. They will make for a welcome splash of colour when few other plants are in flower.
