Last Autumn, on a whim, I bought a bag of mixed daffodils and a bag of mixed tulip bulbs while shopping in Costco. It wasn’t planned or researched and I paid for quantity over quality.
But I seemed to have struck lucky with them; they are gorgeous.
I had thought they were relatively cheap but in amongst the standard bulbs are some stunning varieties of double-headed daffodils and huge headed tulip blooms.
I had planted them in every spare place in the garden and in every empty pot or vessel that I could find. There were 350 bulbs in all. I even had to squeeze them into pots with other things in already them. But the result is a garden bursting with colour from front to back, left to right.
I would love to repeat this Spring display again next year without re-planting and my research so far says I might be lucky/I might not. So my green-fingered friends my question to you is: Is there anything I can do to encourage a repeat flowering next year?
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April 30, 2012 at 5:53 pm
Jenny
I love getting my hands mucky in the soil..but I know as much about flowers as I do about cars….reference is by colour and additional protuberances!
x
Beautiful blooms, especially with the dappled rain drops…you not developed webbed feet yet?
ps. thanks for your lovely words on my blog….one of these days,you and I will have to get together and dance around a battenberg
April 30, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Sue Webb
Gorgeous blooms Claire, I just leave my daffs in the ground after they’ve flowered, I don’t take off the leaves until they turn brown and then they are just sitting there ready for next year! Sometimes though the slugs just gobble up the bulbs and sometimes they never appear again, don’t know why. Ah the joys and mysteries of gardening!
April 30, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Scrapiana
How satisfying! I’m not the most competent gardener but know that you’re supposed to deadhead your daffs once the flowers are fading. Tulips tend to weaken year on year, I think. Not sure how best to encourage them.
May 1, 2012 at 10:39 am
Lesley
Claire, Scrapiana is right about daffs. They need to be deadheaded so that all the energy trying to make seeds is redirected back to the bulb. I’m not sure about deadheading tulips. I suspect that makes no difference. Many people advise pulling up and starting again year on year as they do get weaker and weaker but I’d at least give the best ones a try. Let them die down, cut off the foliage/stem etc and see what happens next year. Meant to leave a comment about Harold Knight as I’ve read the book you mentioned. How interesting to think it might be made into a film. One to watch out for!
May 2, 2012 at 2:41 am
Betsy
haha…oh, I think you got quality! They are gorgeous!
May 2, 2012 at 1:34 pm
anne
Hi, Claire, these are amazing (your pictures are so beautiful!). I am wishing that I had planted some bulbs last fall, too! I haven’t had too much trouble getting daffodils to flower in subsequent years. One of the important things is to let the foliage die back naturally. Although it doesn’t look too pretty, cutting it down before it sends nutrients back to the bulbs will weaken the bulbs. I planted tulips a few years back and this year I see no sign of them. I’m not sure if animals got to them or if they just died for some other reason (I know they’re not always the most reliable of the spring bulbs, too sad because planting them is so much work!). Mulching and fertilizing should help all the bulbs have a better chance of blooming next year.
May 3, 2012 at 9:04 am
knitsofacto
Don’t disturb the foliage until it has completely died back is my top tip.
We have tulips in pots at the north-facing front of the house that are only just starting to flower, they were a similar buy so I have no idea what they will look like. My favourite kind of surprise