Start Early, Think Long

There is a particular kind of satisfaction in planting bulbs on a damp October morning, hands cold, knees muddy, when the border looks thoroughly finished for the year. You are planting faith as much as flowers. But the real reward comes in that long, slow unfurling from February through to late May — a display that carries the garden out of winter rather than simply interrupting it for a fortnight.

The secret is not planting more bulbs, but planting them in layers and in the right order. A single pot or a single metre of border can hold crocuses, daffodils and tulips at once, each taking its turn above ground whilst the others sleep below.

Order your bulbs by flowering time before you do anything else. Most suppliers print this clearly, and a little planning now prevents the frustration of everything blooming in the same ten days.

The Lasagne Method

Layering bulbs in a pot is one of the most generous tricks in gardening. Choose a container at least 30cm deep and 30cm across — terracotta, glazed ceramic or a sturdy plastic pot all work. Drainage matters more than material, so check for a decent hole and add a 2–3cm layer of horticultural grit.

• Bottom layer: tulips, planted 20cm deep, 10cm apart. They are the tallest and latest, so they sit closest to the compost surface eventually.
• Middle layer: daffodils such as Narcissus 'Thalia' or 'Actaea', set 15cm deep, 8–10cm apart, sitting on a 5cm blanket of compost above the tulips.
• Top layer: crocuses at 8cm deep, 5cm apart, or grape hyacinths and dwarf iris if you prefer.

Fill with peat-free multi-purpose compost, firm gently and water well. Bulbs must not sit directly on top of one another — a hand's width of compost between layers stops them rotting and lets roots find space. The finished pot will show crocus in February, daffodils in March, tulips from mid-April. Keep it somewhere cool and sheltered, and move it into view only as the first noses appear.

Choosing Bulbs That Earn Their Keep

Some bulbs flower once and sulk; others multiply quietly and return stronger each year. For a garden that improves rather than merely repeats, favour the naturalisers.

• Snowdrops and winter aconites for the very earliest weeks.
• Crocus tommasinianus, which seeds about freely and shrugs off squirrels far better than the big florist types.
• Narcissus in almost any form — 'February Gold', 'Tête-à-Tête' and the old pheasant's eye types all settle in happily and clump up over the years.
• Fritillaria meleagris for damp, meadowy ground, and camassia for a blue haze in May.
• Alliums — Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation' and A. cristophii — to carry the show into June.

Tulips are the exception. Most hybrids decline after a year or two in heavy British soil, particularly on clay. Treat them as annuals in pots, or try species tulips such as Tulipa sprengeri, T. tarda or T. humilis, which naturalise generously given sharp drainage and a sunny spot.

Depth, Spacing and Soil

The old rule is simple and reliable: plant each bulb at roughly three times its own height. That means crocuses at 8cm, small daffodils at 12cm, and large daffodils and tulips at 15–20cm. Planting too shallow is the single most common mistake — shallow bulbs lift themselves out of the ground, flop over and offer poor flowers the following year.

Space bulbs roughly two bulb-widths apart. Closer planting gives a fuller first season but weaker bulbs in year two, as they compete for moisture and nutrients. In borders, a sprinkle of bone meal or a slow-release bulb fertiliser at planting time pays for itself many times over. Work it into the soil below the bulbs rather than on the surface, where it feeds little but the birds.

In heavy clay, fork in grit and a little well-rotted organic matter before planting. Bulbs hate sitting wet. In sandy soils, the reverse — add compost to hold moisture through spring.

Planting Through Borders

You do not need dedicated bulb beds. In a perennial border, plant bulbs in generous drifts of twenty or thirty between established clumps, avoiding the congested crowns of herbaceous plants. The emerging perennials will hide the yellowing foliage in May just as it begins to look untidy.

Under deciduous trees and shrubs is prime territory for early bulbs. They flower and finish before the canopy closes overhead, and the leaf litter keeps them cool and moist in summer.

If squirrels are a nuisance, lay a sheet of chicken wire just below the surface over freshly planted pots and borders. The shoots push through easily; the squirrels lose interest.

After the Flowers Fade

Resist the urge to tidy too soon. The leaves are the bulb's only means of storing energy for next year, so leave them for at least six weeks after flowering — until they yellow and pull away easily. In a pot, keep watering and feed with a liquid tomato feed every fortnight during that period.

Deadhead daffodils and tulips so energy goes into the bulb rather than seed, but never tie the foliage in knots; it restricts the light reaching the leaves. Once it has died back naturally, lift and store tulips in a dry, airy place, or leave everything undisturbed and let the garden keep its own slow counsel until next autumn, when the whole quiet ritual begins again.