How to use the last of those lingering flower bulbs

Those, like me, who were waiting until December to plant tulip bulbs, (as they do better if planted after the temperature has dropped and killed all tulip beetles in the soil), never got the chance to get out before 2015 finished, as most gardens were more like swimming pools than fertile bulb beds.

January hasn’t been much kinder in terms of climate with deluge followed by ice and frost.

I have to admit that 3 shelves in my shed are full of last year’s tulip bulbs. lifted after flowering and not yet replanted. I got about half of them in earlier, but since then, none. Indeed, tulips are the only bulb that I follow the textbook for, as they will tend not to survive if left in the ground year after year.

I adore the flowers, from the simplicity of the Darwin hybrids to the complex ruffled peacock and pheasant varieties, many with a near stained glass effect. There are very few other plants in my garden that will enjoy the same amount of attention, most having to fend for themselves after planting.

Daffodils will be lifted after several years when they become blind and need dividing and thinning out but certainly are not lifted each year and they must look on enviously at their cosseted neighbours.

So, what to do with these left over bulbs? Well there is still time to plant them, they will be very forgiving of your tardiness. Provided the bulbs are still firm to the touch and not mushy they will still grow and produce blooms later this spring.

The entire food reserve for each plant is in the bulb. The miracle happens when the roots emerge from the bulb and make contact with the soil and absorb the water and nutrients therein. Then the leaves will unfurl, then the flower bud, finally opening up into fantastic blooms.

If you don’t plant them now, then many of the bulbs will simply rot away and be fit only for the dump, many others will attempt to produce leaves and flowers but without being plugged into mother earth via the soil, they will come to nothing.

Other bulbs will establish much more successfully if planted ‘in the green’, in other words not as dry bulbs in the autumn, but lifted and divided during their growing season while in full leaf and even in flower. Snowdrops in particular are better planted this way, so too the Winter Aconite or Eranthis hyemalis, and for me one of the finest genus of all, Anemone.

The wood anemone or A. nemerosa is a native woodland plant in these islands and quickly establishes into a carpet of green and white under deciduous trees and woodland areas. It likes a position that has good amounts of winter and early spring sunshine and dry shade in the summer, which makes it perfectly suited to these sylvan areas.

Masses of double white flowers like tiny balls of cotton wool are produced freely from March through May. If you opt for garden centre-grown specimens, you might even have them in flower from now. A far cry from the fussy tulip, once the anemone establishes you have it for life.

Anemone blanda or the winter windflower is a more delicate type and depending on the variety will produce either soft white or the most beautiful blue flowers.

Little single star-shaped blooms with narrow petals are produced in abundance over the ferny green foliage of this rhizothamnus perennial.

Not as quick or as easy to bulk up and naturalise as its tougher cousin the wood anemone, but it is worth persevering with, as when you do develop a clump in the garden it makes a great spring display.

The Anemone de Caen hybrids are certainly among my favourites for colour later in the spring. Simple flowers in shades of red, purple, mauve and white, they unfurl nearly in front of the eyes above lush, curly foliage.

The bright colours lift the spirits even on the darkest of days and again nature provides the beauty by contrasting them so well with the heavy-looking foliage. Worth growing too to draw in the pollinators, attracted to the bright colours and the open flowers making the pollen easily accessible.

Not always successful when planted in bulb form in the autumn for spring flowering, I prefer to plant them as growing plants during February and March. If you do plant the bulbs be sure to soak them in water overnight as it will certainly help to soften the outer skin of the bulb and assist with growth.

Hard to believe looking at the wizened looking bulb which looks like an oversized, dried-out raisin, that it could produce something as beautiful as it does — but that’s gardening for you.

The St Brigid variety of anemone is similar to the de Caen hybrids but the flowers produced are double or semi-double and with a much fuller and more ruffled effect. For me, however, you can’t beat the simplicity of the de Caens.

It’s February next week and spring in this part of the world — even if Met Eireann say differently and with that comes renewed hope, renewed growth and all the promise that a new growing season brings.