Blog: investing in spring colour…
This autumn/early winter has been a massive catch-up, but there’s still a lot to do, the most important being planting tulip bulbs. I’m getting there (see my previous post on cleaning the conservatory), despite my self-sabotaging behaviour. As usual, I fell for a bargain bundle of tulips in a sale – that’s the benefit of buying them late – you’ll save tons.
Out I went to plant, put my hand into my bag of tools… and stabbed my thumb on the open blade of the secateurs. My, did it bleed! Everything stopped for four days until the cut healed enough to get back outside.
Planting tulip bulbs – killing off tulip fire
Planting tulips late in the season has another bonus – the low temperatures in November and December should kill off the tulip fire fungus if you have it in your area. I grow my tulips in pots, as they really don’t like the heavy clay in my garden. As I like to reuse whenever possible, I plant the bulbs in the used tomato and annual compost from this year.
If you’re reusing compost, remove any old plant matter (rootballs, etc) and check for pests, such as vine weevil grubs. Presuming it’s all clear, replenish the missing nutrients with a general-purpose fertiliser such as Growmore.
Planting tulip bulbs – reusing old compost
If you’re using them as an annual, which I tend to do (unless they are species tulips, which naturalise), only use the compost once. I then use it as a mulch to deter weeds in the main long bed. What did I choose? Unusually for me, the majority of the bulbs are a mixed box of 150 Triumph tulips, flowering April/May. They grow about 50cm tall and are quite weather-resistant. Plant them 10-15cm deep.
I’ve planted these in a collection of zinc pots which I’ll see from my office. Maybe it was the state of the world, but I just felt like I needed something bright and cheerful to look forward to – damn taste!
Tulips on a more tasteful note
On a more refined note, I also bought 30 bulbs of Salmon Dynasty and 36 bulbs of a ‘designer tulip blend’, Sunset Skies, which will end up being moved around the pond. Salmon Dynasty is creamy yellow flushing salmon with a soft blush of pink, on a base of ivory to primrose yellow. As it matures, the colours change and intensify. Flowering April-May, it reaches 45cm in height, plant 10cm deep.
Sunset Skies is a mix of blue and sunset-shaded tulips (not my usual thing to buy a mix, but hey, they were cheap). Wrapped up against the cold on a cold day (I wore two pairs of trousers), the job is done… always something to look forward to in gardening!
