Spring bulbs: What I’m planting

Delve into the most exciting shopping basket a thirty-year old could have.

Sep 24, 2024

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My love affair with gardening was not an explosion but more of a slow-burning flame that has grown with time. I dabbled in gardening on a west London balcony in the depths of lockdown, with a singular trug with courgette plants slowly taking over the place, expanded my knowledge further in a raised bed in my last place, growing flowers to cut and then finally this year, with the first garden of my own - that small ember has formed into a full grown flaming passion for gardening.

Throughout the spring and summer, my partner and I have thrown ourselves into gardening, from planting humble trees to build some character to the space, to digging the first section of the border and filling it with all the dreamy perennials. I’ve dabbled in my first go at having a decent-sized vegetable patch (and learnt a thing or two about why people use cloches with brassicas - spoiler alert, it’s caterpillars. So, many, caterpillars). And now comes my favourite time of my year, planting spring bulbs.

This feels like a homecoming, unlike all the other things I’ve been doing in the garden this year, this is something I’ve done before (and succeeded). My cut flower garden at my last place was my pride and joy, there wasn’t a week in spring to early summer that I didn’t have a fresh vase of flowers. And now? I get to take all I have learnt (especially about good drainage in pots) and put it into practice in my garden.

Unlike the raised bed in my last place, I won’t be cutting all of my flowers - after all, I’ve almost tripled the amount of bulbs I’m planting (oops). So I’ve had to think carefully about positioning in the borders, and how to layer my pots for beautiful, natural displays. Let’s just say, I have beyond enjoyed this process, and now I’m going to share it with you.

My rather large bulb order

I’ve mostly bought my bulbs from one place, I’m an absolute sucker for a brand that really nails its niche (my day job can’t help but seep into my daily life) and Farmer Gracy is exactly that brand. I first ordered from them when planting my cut flower garden, and the whole experience was chefs kiss. The clarity of the different bulbs and how to care for them, the range of different varieties and also, the packaging, the sweet, beautiful packaging.

Also, I can vouch for the bulbs themselves, as a first-time flower grower a couple of years back, I followed their instructions to a tee and had the most beautiful blooms. So I was excited to revisit the site to place my slightly larger order for this coming season.

I’ll break down the order by their type for ease, buckle up there are a few varieties to talk through:

Daffodils

Naive Allie before planting the cut garden thought as sweet as daffodils were, they were a little standard and boring. After all, they’re everywhere in the UK, a sure sign of spring en route - but I didn’t feel like with my limited space in my old garden they were worth growing. That was until I discovered all of the many varieties on offer, and now they’re my standard starting point.

Narcissus 'Eaton Song’*- I wanted to plant some smaller varieties this year to help add variety to my pots and despite enjoying the tête-à-tête variety, I do struggle with the fact they’re also a little common on the grassy verges of where I live. So I opted instead of the Eaton Song, still a small variety, but instead, the main flower is a slightly washed-out lemon shade with a rich yolky trumpet.

Narcissus 'Replete'*- Double daffodils are a delight, the only way I can find an apt way of describing them is as if you had two ice cream flavours and whipped them up into a cone Mr Whippy style. The Replete has the defining colours that are my favourite in a daffodil, a slightly off-white with an apricot tone to balance. I made sure I bought enough of these to be able to create beautiful displays indoors and out.

Narcissus 'Chromacolor'* - This is the only bulb that I have grown before and reordered, not because I didn’t love the others but because I’m a big fan of change. However, the Chromacolor has my heart, and they performed so beautifully. I still have the original bulbs in the back of the garden, but I wanted more for my pots this year. Much like the Replete, they are that washed-out colour with a dose of apricot to warm them up. They remind me of a fair amount of heavily filtering Instagram photos with Valencia back in the day.

Tulips

Again with the tulips, I’m not a huge fan of your standard supermarket flower types. Discovering the double tulips a couple of years ago made me appreciate how great they can be. I’m really excited to try a new group this year, the botanical tulip.

Tulip 'Double Mixed'* - Something Farmer Gracy does incredibly well is creating collections of bulbs for those who may be beginners and want a little bit of everything. This selection is a mixture of double tulips, in a mixed bag of colours. Double tulips do a great job at masking as peonies, their fluffy full petals are absolutely stunning in the mix of your garden.

Tulip 'Lilac Perfection'* - I took a lot of inspiration from the Chelsea Flower Show colour palette this year (mixing purples with orange tones) so made sure to get a wide range of purples from soft lilacs to violets. Being double tulips, they’re full and will stand out beautifully amongst the green of a spring garden.

Tulip 'Apricot Beauty'* - Unintentionally I didn’t opt for many pinks this year, but these slipped into my basket due to their blended pink to apricot tones. They’re standard early tulips with strong stems, so perfect for the vase.

Tulip 'Lilac Wonder'* - I’m wildly excited about these botanical tulips, my first foray into the group. Luckily, however, the Lilac Wonder, unlike other botanical tulips will flower again after the first year. They’re a strikingly different shape, they remind me a little of crocus with their shorter stature and star-like shape.

Allium

Ahh my garlicy friends, you cannot beat Alliums. My absolute favourite thing about them is their unwavering presence in the garden. Their solid structure is the gift that just keeps on giving throughout spring.

Allium 'Purple Sensation'* - These have been described as sweetly scented, which has me intrigued after all normally despite their beautiful appearance it is odd to smell garlic when near them. These are rich in colour and will grow to around 50-70cm so will give a nice structure during spring.

Allium collection 'Endless Summer'* - Another Farmer Gracy collection, I loved how the Allium 'Graceful Beauty' and Allium 'Rosy Beauty offset each other with lilac and white blooms which will make for a really beautiful display. I have mixed these in with the Purple Sensation when planting too for another deep element.

Crocus, Muscari & Hyacinth

I’ve grouped these three types as I’ve used them all in the same manner, to provide some early spring colour ahead of the other bulbs. Having grown Hyacinth successfully in the past, I’m excited to expand on the early bloomer types.

Crocus 'Botanical Mixed'* - This is my first time growing Crocus, I only really thought about them this year as they’re not one for the vase. Instead, I’ll be using this selection of Crocus, mixed in purples, yellows and blues to top my pots off (being the top part of my bulb lasagnas). However, I did see a TikTok about making Crocus lawns, as they flower and die back before you need to cut your grass. Upon showing this to my partner, he promptly bought a pack of 100. So, I will truly be living in a Crocus haven.

Muscari 'Valerie Finnis'*- Another first for me is Muscari, also known as Grape Hyacinth. They look just like hyacinths but a lot smaller in the sweetest shade of light blue. Another perfect bloom for topping my pots and also, I’ve decided to add a flurry of these around the base of our Magnolia tree.

Hyacinth 'Gipsy Queen'* - When I spotted this peachy hue of Hyacinth I immediately added it to the basket, I had no idea you could get such a shade. Alongside the best scent and an earlier bloomer, I reckon this will be one of the best choices for my spring garden.

Hyacinth 'Miss Saigon'* - Of course, when I picked up the peach-coloured Gipsy Queen, I had to balance that with the violet tones of Miss Saigon. These look like such a deep colour, which of course the bees will love and should stand out in the sea of green.

Iris & Leucojum

A little bit different from your usual spring bulb order, but that’s the beauty of exploring and trying new plants. I didn’t plan on either of these species, so I am full of wonder to see how they do in the garden and whether they will become new favourites of mine.

Dutch Iris 'Discovery’*- It’s a bit of a push to describe this as a spring bloom as this Iris will begin blooming in May, but it’s going in the ground at the same time. I’ve never thought of growing Iris before, but after tuning into a recent episode of Gardener’s World and learning more about them I knew they would be perfect to introduce to the garden.

Leucojum 'Gravetye Giant'* - I’d never heard of a Leucojum, but spotted it on the website and fell in love. Despite appearances, they’re not actually from the same family as Snowdrops, but are incredibly similar. They’re more commonly known as Snowflakes, which feels fitting given their delicate appearance. I’ve clustered these up in the border, I’m excited to see their delicate petals against the more colourful blooms.

Ranuculas & Anemone

A slightly more effort pair, after all, bulbs really are the most simple in the garden world. I’ll enjoy having a slightly more hands-on growing period with these and am excited to have something to nurture as everything else goes a little dormant in winter.

Ranunculus 'Tomer Mix’* - So, definitely not a bulb, but a corm. These delicate flowers I’ll be sowing into seed pots before planting out to join the bulbs. They’re such beautiful blooms, and from what I remember they last forever in the vase which is such a sell, as I always feel guilty cutting something that struggles to last. I went for a mix of colours with these as I love the surprise, I’ll most likely be using the majority of these as cut flowers this year so wasn’t essential to fit in with the garden palette.

Anemone 'Blue Shades'* - Another not bulb, the Anemone much the same as the Ranunculus will be planted in seed pots to start but will naturalise in the garden after the first year. I went with the blue shades to appease the bees and their favourite flower colour.

I had originally planned to do this as a single post all about what I’ve ordered and how I’m planting them, however upon finishing just typing about the bulbs I’ve ordered I think perhaps a second post is in order. After all, you know what they say about too much of a good thing (even if that good thing, is bulbs).

See you back here for how I’ve worked around planning to plant over 200 bulbs and what exactly is in my bulb lasagne recipes. In the meantime, if you have any questions about spring bulbs, please ask away, I will forever be open to talking about flowers (possibly one of my favourite topics).