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Newbie here, bulb lover

Emily RowseEmily Rowse Posts: 2
in Plants

Hi guys, 

I'm a newbie here but by no means a newbie to gardening. 

I was wondering what spring bulbs everyone is planting this season? The weather has been so temperamental, and I've been so busy, but I'm worried that if I don't get ahead with planting soon my garden won't be the colourful domain I'd hoped! 

I was also wondering if anyone had any recommendations for upcoming flower shows? I've been trying to become more active within the community and figured this would be a good place to start. 

Thanks ahead for any feedback, and sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, as I said I'm new! Let me know if this should feature somewhere else on the forum. 

Thanks, 

Em

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Posts

  • PerkiPerki Posts: 2,453

    Hello Emily welcome to the forum image

    I not sure what spring bulbs I be planting, I normally go for daffs - tulips which are planted in autumn 

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,358

    Hi Em, welcome to the forum. Don't worry about posting in the right place, it all ends up on the same pageimage

    I don't know anything about the sort of bulbs you plant now eitherimage

    But generally speaking, when you see them in the GCs, you can plant them, even if you have to protect some of them.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,501

    I've got a few Gladioli Plum Tart to tuck into my border among the other blues,pinks and purples for a bit of spikinessimage, and a few Sparaxis for a gravelly bed. My dahlias are all potted up, some are for cut flowers and some are integrated into the borders for a good solid hit of colour that goes on into Autumn. Stops it getting too wispy!

    I'm not sure about flower shows as a way to join in the community, but I have joined 2 local gardening clubs. One is part of the Alpine Garden Society and some of the members show their plants. It seems to need the kind of dedication to perfection and competitiveness that I just don't possessimage I don't grow alpines apart from a few in troughs and the commoner kinds on the rockery, but I loved seeing them when we used to holiday in Switzerland. The other club is a local one and more general, but both give a chance to chat to people and they have plant salesimage They also run excursions, another way to make friends. The Hardy Plant Society and the Cottage Garden Society also have clubs nationwide, so there should be one not too far from you if you are interested.

    I usually go to Tatton Show, the nearest for me. Harrogate is coming up next week, but sadly I can't make that, and then Malvern in May. Depending on where you live there may be local shows in the summer, where you could dip your toe in the waters of showing. Several towns and villages round here have them, though the vegetables generally take pride of place, they also have pot plants, sweet pea and sometimes fuchsia classes as well as the cakes and preserves.

  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150

    Hello and welcome Emily image

    I potted up my spring bulbs last autumn, these are my new tulips a double early "peach blossom"

    image

     My daffs and crocus are finished and the kaufmania dwarf tulips are starting to look tatty now.

    Last week I planted freesias and dwarf gladioli for the summer.

    What are you hoping to grow?

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 54,353

    I've just planted up some Acidanthera - or whatever they call them now! Peacock orchid is their common name. They're not hardy so mine are in pots and will go out when they have a bit of growth, probably in late May/early June. You can still get them in lots of GCs and supermarkets as well.  

    You'll still get lilies for summer flowering, again - GCs and sometimes supermarkets or the cheapo outlets like B&M etc.  image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Andy LeedsAndy Leeds Posts: 518

    Not that I can recommend (as I've not been before), but I'm heading off to the Harrogate Spring flower show next Friday.  It's on from 21-24th April, maybe others here can comment on it.

    Assume it depends on where you live image

  • LandlubberLandlubber Posts: 396

    oh, they are niceimage!

  • Ellis CarverEllis Carver Posts: 4

    Hi Emily, where abouts are you based? I just got tickets to the spring flower and tulip festival over at Stonor Park, its about an hour outside of London give or take, in Henley. Nice part of the world. I only visited once before but the gardens are pretty spectacular if you're in the area! 

  • Emily RowseEmily Rowse Posts: 2

    Thanks for welcoming me everyone! 

    @nutclut - that's a really good tip regarding GC's and bulbs - this makes sense but I'm not sure if I would have come to it on my own 

    @buttercupdays - i definitely am going to look into joining clubs. this sounds like a really good way to get to know other plant lovers and also very rewarding. thanks for the tip. 

    @kitty2 your tulips look AMAZING! i obviously need to be planting earlier if i want to reap those results. I'm actually a bit of tulip head and that's what I've been hoping to achieve to grow lots of varieties of. 

    @Andy Leeds - I've just looked into that and it looks amazing image but it's quite far a field from me. Might be something I can  convince hubby to take me too 

    @Ellis Carver - I actually live really quite close to Henley! I've always meant to go to Stonor Park but I've never had a chance - my mum says their gardens are really lush! I've had a look into it and it looks like their also doing a Tulipmania talk with the bloke of the allotment show, so I deffo have to get a pair now! 

     

     

  • Ellis CarverEllis Carver Posts: 4

    No problem Emily, I've seen that Jonathon Moseley is doing that talk and it looks like it will be great. It's 10% off tickets at the moment so grab them! Maybe see you there! 

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