Bulb virgin - what do i do??!!

Hi,

I have some pots that have contained bedding plants over the summer. I would like to plant some bulbs but not really sure how to go about it and when to do it?

I would like to plant tulips, daffs and crocus' - would they all be suitable for containers? How far apart do the bulbs need to be? Ideally I would like to see the containers overflowing with colour in spring - is that possiblt with bulbs in containers without them being too cramped?

Many Thanks!

 

The wife bought a pot with four lillies in it years ago. It was only a smallish, maybe 9cm square pot, and the lillies were happy enough. She doesn't really look after them but they keep coming back year after year in the same pot, so with a bit of TLC I reckon you can get away with quite a lot.

 

There are many bulbs that can be grown in pots. You can even have different bulbs in the same pot, to give a continuous flowering period. Have a look here at some information. If you look in the weekend papers etc at the moment, they are all having articles on bulb planting in the garden.

You can always plant on top of the bulbs with something like pansy or polyanthus to give some extra colour to the displays.

Hope this Helps!

 

Thats a good idea planting things on top of the bulbs - can i ask how i would go about doing that? Do you mean that the plants will be in flower and then the bulbs will come up. Would i plant the bulbs now, then add the pansies etc in spring? I'm a total novice so please excuse the ignorance!

 

You can plant your bulbs now Busybee. Daffs, tulips and crocus will all be suitable.
I prefer to plant them in separate pots.
To get a really good show ignore the planting instructions about spacing that come with them and plant as many as you can get in the pot. I plant daffodils in 2 layers - put in a layer of bulbs close together add a little compost and put in another layer. That gives the really full look I think you are looking for.

 

Ive put mini daffs in hanging baskets before, under the pansies and used normal daffs and crocus in the tubs, again under pansies etc .... colour for the winter and masses of colour in the spring

 

That sounds fab! I have bought my bulbs now - mini daffs, crocus, iris and tulips - a mass of spring colour i hope! Can i really just put loads into one pot? How many flowers/stalks does one bulb produce? I'm assuming that one bulb will produce one stalk giving you a number of flowers on each stalk??

Roughly how many bulbs can i put in a pot 10" wide?