How to plan NOW for your Spring garden
Spring may feel incredibly far away, but now is actually the time to be planning your spring garden. If you want delicate daffodils to pop up in your lawn in March, troughs of tulips to explode into colour in April, and amazing Alliums to fill your borders in May, a bit of forward planning is essential. You can pre-order your bulbs from Farmer Gracy now, and they’ll be delivered in September, ready to be planted this autumn.
Narcissus
Narcissus, more commonly known as daffodils are associated with the start of spring here in the UK, as they begin to raise their sunny heads in March and April, when the days are beginning to get longer and the temperatures are finally starting to rise after a long winter. In my opinion, Narcissus look their best planted in groups within a lawn. We have groups of narcissus placed under some of the trees in our garden, and we love to look out the window of our home office in early spring and see these cheery blooms.
Daffodils are also excellent in pots, particularly the more delicate varieties. Polar Hunter is the perfect variety for placing in a little terracotta pot, with the pot finished off with a handful of moss to cover the top; it looks pretty, plus the moss helps the pot retain moisture. These pots of daffodils are the perfect addition to a spring tablescape; they look particularly perfect on an Easter themed table!
One other reason why I love narcissus is that they are extremely perennial. This means that your flowers will pop up again and again each year without you having to do anything to them, and their numbers will even increase over time. This makes narcissus bulbs excellent value for money which is a win-win.
Use code JOSIE10 for 10% off your Farmer Gracy order!
Tulips
Tulips are a real highlight of spring in the garden as they are so bright and colourful and come in a plethora of different of styles, meaning there is a tulip to suit any spot in any garden. If you like to stick to pale pastel shades in your garden, Silver Cloud or Angelique would be perfect. If you prefer a deep, rich colour palette, then Havran or Merlot may be the tulips for you.
This year, I’ve also ordered Lady Smile and Mount Tacoma from Farmer Gracy. I think these tulips will look beautiful mixed together in the border outside our front door, as well as within a large antique trough that we plant up with spring bulbs each year. Tulips aren’t as perennial as narcissus, so you will likely need to re-buy them each year. While that makes them not such great value for money, I quite enjoy having to buy more tulips each year as there are still dozens of tulip varieties that I’m excited to try out!
I absolutely adore bringing tulips into the house as cut flowers – they’re surprisingly expensive in the shops so growing my own means they work out just pennies per stem – so there’s no excuse not to have a house full of blooms which is perfect when you’re looking to bring some of the outdoors inside.
Check out our August Gardening Jobs post if you want to know what else needs doing in the garden this month
Alliums
There are few plants that can make such a dramatic impact as Allium Purple Sensations planted en masse within a border. Alliums produce large, spherical flower heads made up of tiny star-shaped flowers. These blooms add striking architectural interest to gardens, and they don’t only come in purple! If you prefer white flowers you could go for Allium White Giant, whilst if you prefer more pinky shades, why not try Allium Rosy Beauty? Alliums will come back year after year as long as the winter rain doesn’t rot the bulbs, but still – we prefer to plant more each Autumn!
Ranunculus
My Farmer Gracy order wouldn’t be complete without some ranunculus corms! This year, I’ve gone for Ranunculus Elegance Striato Bianco which has beautiful white petals with deep magenta lining the edges of the petals. I have also ordered Ranunculus Elegance Malva, which is a romantic faded purple shade. Both of these varieties will look absolutely gorgeous potted up in my greenhouse – providing a bit of spring colour from April onwards!
