Plant up pots of summer flowering bulbs

Plant up pots of summer flowering bulbs

Growing summer bulbs offers the chance to add some exotic looking blooms to the garden in the height of the season, as well as providing plenty of opportunity for cut flower displays.
If weather conditions still aren't right for planting directly outside why not start the season of by potting up some summer bulbs now. There are plenty of summer bulb options already on offer at the garden centres, and if you have space in the greenhouse, cold frame, or a cool room of the house, you can pot them up now ready for planting out later.
It’s a good use of a rainy afternoon in the dry of the greenhouse to get this job out of the way – they’ll be plenty of other jobs and projects to focus on in April.

Within this wide group of plants come some of our favourite summer beauties .. lilies, dahlias, canna, nerine and gladioli. They all have one thing in common a need for free-draining soil. Use Plantsplus compost with John Innes when potting up. And add extra perlite or grit to improve the drainage of the mix.

When planting in pots, the normal rules on spacing go out of the window. Do, however, aim to set them at the depth they would be planted in the ground. This varies from bulb to bulb, but should be stated on the packaging. Keep the compost in the pot moist, but never soaking wet.
Do all this and you should have a vibrant mix of colourful blooms in amongst other border plants this summer. And lots of great value cut flowers for the house


Step-by-step potting up summer bulbs

Step 1 Put some broken crocks or polystyrene at the bottom of the pot to aid drainage. Fill up with Plantsplus compost to the planting dept of your chosen bulbs. Evenly space the bulbs on the surface of the compost.

Step 2 Cover the bulbs with more compost to 2.5 cm (an inch) below the top of the pot. Once covered, water in and allow to drain.

Step 3 Having labelled your pots keep them in a sheltered place outside or in a cool greenhouse, cold frame or unheated room in the house until things warm up in the garden