Cape Town - April is the month to plant bulbs. While most of the garden enjoys a winter rest, bulbs planted now will spend the cold season putting out roots into the earth in search of food and moisture to support their stunning display in early spring.
Now is the time to design colour schemes for borders, containers, patios and around entrances by planting different coloured bulbs. Look for scented ones such as freesias or tuber roses to grow near an open window or doorway where their fragrance can be enjoyed.
Or design a sunny corner of your garden using bulbs that flower in a range of blue shades in spring. Combine blue muscari (grape hyacinth) with violet-blue anemone and Dutch iris. Then add the dainty star flowers of ipheion, and accent their colour by combining them with blue flowering lupin, forget-me-not, anchusa (Cape forget-me-not), pansy, viola and aquilegia.
Ribbon planting in solid blocks of colour can be effective, especially in large gardens, or alongside paths or driveways, but the dying foliage of bulbs is their least attractive attribute, and if bulbs are to flower next year, their foliage must be left to die down naturally.
With the movement towards more naturalistic gardens, bulbs can be used to create beautiful effects if they are inter-planted among early-blooming hellebore, aquilegia, dicentra, primula, larkspur, nemesia, stock and calendula. They can also be combined with ornamental grasses, and grass-like plants such as Chlorophytum saundersiae with its white flowers and narrow leaves.
Some of the loveliest spring-flowering bulbs are indigenous. With their bright, jewel-like colours, freesia, sparaxis (harlequin flower), babiana, ixia (African corn lily) and tritonia will brighten entrances, borders, rockery pockets and containers on patios.
While most bulbs do best in sunshine, the common name of forest lily is an indication of the indigenous veltheimia’s habitat. The flower spikes are usually dusty pink, but also come in red to greenish-white. Plant bulbs in partial shade with the neck just above the ground.
Daffodils are true bulbs and should be planted immediately after purchase in well-drained soil, in a position where they are not exposed to hot, drying winds. Extend their season by selecting early, mid and late flowering varieties.
Treated tulips are planted this month. Fork in a generous amount of compost and bury bulbs to a depth where there is the same amount of soil above them as the height of the bulb. Space about 12cm apart.
For brilliance of colour, few bulbs can compare to ranunculi, whether grown in single or in mixed colours. Soak their claw-like tuberous roots in water for an hour or two before planting and plant with the claws down.
A position in morning sun is preferable for anemones. They can have single or double flowers of red, blue, purple or white, usually with a contrasting centre. Plant in well-drained soil with the pointed end of the tuberous rhizome pointing downwards.
Grape hyacinth (muscari) may be short in stature, but their rich blue colouring is striking when planted in broad ribbons, between taller bulbs, and under spring-flowering trees.
Dutch iris with grass-like foliage and blooms of white, yellow, pale to deep blue and violet are graceful and elegant in the garden, and long lasting as cut flowers.
Bulbs give the gardener an excuse to indulge in some plant combinations that may not be desirable as permanent plantings in the garden. The advantage of planting in pots is that the pots can be moved to an inconspicuous part of the garden once flowering is over.
Lachenalia (Cape cowslip) make attractive pot plants for their dainty yellow, orange-red or mauve spikes of tubular flowers, and for the variation in leaf colour and texture.
A position in morning sun is preferable to an all-day baking. The soil in the pots should never be allowed to become too dry and might require daily watering. Alyssum, trailing lobelia, forget-me-not (myosotis), viola or pansy sown over the bulbs can add interest and colour, and keep the surface soil cool.
Growing bulbs indoors in water can be fascinating as you watch the development of roots, leaves and flowers. This method of growing in water is known as hydroponics, and the two bulbs that are most successfully grown in this way are hyacinths and narcissi.
There are specially designed vases in the shape of an hourglass for this purpose, where the bulbs sit in the bulge just above the water level. Otherwise, place marbles or pebbles in a large glass bowl and place the bulbs on the pebbles.
Fill the bowl with water to reach (but not come into contact) with the plant, just below the bulbs. Grow bulbs in bright light, but away from direct sunlight, and not near electric heaters or fires. Cut-flower food crystals added to the water will provide nutrients and prevent the water from becoming cloudy.
TIP
Sprinkle light sand to mark where bulbs are planted so you don’t pierce them with a fork. Plant roughly twice the depth of the bulb’s diameter, spacing large ones 10cm to 15cm apart and small ones 3cm to 5cm apart, in groups. Keep soil damp until bulbs emerge, then increase watering.
THOUGHTS OF SPRING
Welcome spring with a colour scheme of apricot and orange by growing Iceland poppies and nemesia, Namaqualand daisies, venidium, arctotis, ranunculus and calendulas. If blue is a favourite colour, choose scilla, forget-me-not, lobelia, pansy, viola and iris.
Before planting seedlings and bulbs, refresh borders by digging over the soil, adding compost generously, a handful per square metre of superphosphate and a general fertiliser. - Weekend Argus