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Garden Trends
Take your potted bulbs outside !!!
Spring-flowering bulbs such as narcissi, hyacinths, tulips, crocuses,
grape hyacinths etc. are more suitable for outdoor use. Living-room
temperatures are usually too high and will cause them to become too
tall and shorten their flowering period. Narcissi will flower outside in early
spring (February/March), sometimes for about six weeks. Place them at
the windowsill, the balcony or terrace.
Plant directly into the garden
What if you do not have the patience to wait from autumn until spring
for your bulbs to flower? Or what if you have just forgotten to plant your
bulbs in autumn? Just buy potted bulbs, as raw as possible, remove
the pot, put the clods in the ground and cover them with a layer of soil.
Some garden centers and flower shops sell Tête-à-Tête narcissi in handy
six-packs without pots, especially intended to be planted in the garden.
Terrace Narcissi
A large bowl of flowering narcissi will look
beautifully on your terrace or balcony.
You can buy bowls of narcissi at relatively
small prices. Most varieties are suitable
for outdoor use in pots, e.g. the well-known
Tête-à-Tête, but also Jetfire
and Monal.
Naturalizing
A haphazard, informal way of planting, which can be applied in all sorts of gardens.
Mass-planting
If you have a larger area at your disposal, it will look great when you plant large numbers of bulbs, which will flower several years in a row. The most suitable types for mass planting are narcissi, crocuses, grape hyacinths and snowdrops. These flowers also look lovely along a lane, in the woodland or under trees.
Bulbs of one colour
You can buy complete selections of different
bulbs of one colour, but you can also compose your own colour garden. When choosing
your bulbs, please take care that their flowering
periods correspond. A variation on this theme
is to combine two colours which match well,
or to make a combination of bulbous flowers
and perennials.
Growing bulbs for cut flowers
It is an old tradition to grow your own cut flowers. For this, you need larger quantities of long-stemmed types, which you plant in a bed and, if possible, protect from the wind. Most bulb types, but especially the summer-flowering types, are suitable for growing cut flowers.
Bulb combinations
Flower bulbs can be combined in many different ways. A selection of possible
combinations are described and illustrated below:
Combinations of bulbs and perennials
In spring, perennials can cover the dying foliage of spring-flowering bulbs.
Perennials also nicely combine with summer-flowering bulbs.
Grape hyacinths (Muscari) combined with (almost) everything
The Muscari Armeniacum, the most popular grape hyacinth, combines lovely
with gaudy tulips and yellow dwarf-narcissi.
Duets of tulips
A good tulip duet requires precision. It is essential that the different varieties are
equal in flowering period, length and flowering shape. Nearly as important is that
the two colours are either contrasting in just the right way or that they are in
perfect harmony together. |
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