Tag Archive: bulbs

Allium sphaerocephalon (drumsticks)

Chris January 10, 2025 Garden Allium, bulbs, flowers, weather,

Its 9th January and the garden is still white over and frozen solid so I’m indoors and having another look at the bulbs that Sean and Deb gave me for Christmas. They are all now potted up. Very late as all of them were for Autumn planting so fingers crossed. Most of them are new to me and part of the fun is researching the varieties and finding out what to expect as they grow.

The drumstick allium looks a very interesting variety. The bulbs have already put on about 8″ of growth so I know that there is life in there.

I have read that the Allium sphaerocephalon is very adaptable and easy to use in many ways adapting well to any garden. Advice it to plant the bulbs amongst ornamental grasses or tall wild flowers. They, like all Alliums, are perennial and loved by pollinators so that’s a plus in my book. I’m also a fan of any plant that naturalises and self seeds so another tick from me. The plant is a member of the Leek family and produces reddish purple flowers. The name “sphaerocephalon” derives from ancient Greek and refers to the spherical head of the flower. Apparently these plants have a tendency to become invasive. Good luck to them in my garden then.

All Allium are said to be a bit pungent but I have no problem with that as I have absolutely no sense of smell these days.

“The juice of Allium sphaerocephalon is used as a moth repellent and the plant itself is said to repel insects although the flowers are very attractive to pollinators.”
farmer gracy

Tulip humilis Persian Pearl

Chris January 1, 2025 Garden bulbs, naturalise, tulip

Wow!!! I’ve just looked this beauty up and what a brilliant surprise. The next of the Tulip bulbs in my box of delights.

I have potted these ten bulbs up but when I read up about them they are apparently perennial and so good to naturalise so here’s hoping I can get them into the garden eventually. They look lovely.

2025 – 11.11

Chris January 1, 2025 Garden 2025, bulbs, family, tulip

Christmas Present – Tulip – Amazing Grace

A new variety from Farmer Gracy, these were some of the bulbs given to me by Sean and Deb in December. I had no idea until I looked them up what these tulips would look like. They are similar to peony in shape and colour. They are tucked up now in a new pot with some nice new compost. My sort of Christmas present. You can’t beat spring bulbs for new hope and a promise of beautiful things to come.

Today is new years day 2025. It feels so futuristic to me and the blink of an eye since 1956, when I wrote my name in my pristine rough book at the local grammar school. A massive thing for me as my parents weren’t well off and uniform and equipment were a bit out of our reach. I was desperate to go to that school though and I shall never know what a struggle it was for them to get my things together but as always they didn’t let me down. That school, those times, my family and the world I grew up in made me who I am today.

This is my eightieth year and although there have been some ups and downs I’m still here and reasonably healthy. The world is a very different place for my grandchildren to grow up in and I do worry about them.

Anemones Coronaria ‘De Caen’

Chris May 6, 2024 Garden Anemone, bulbs, flowers, Tips

Anemone coronaria de Caen are hardy perennial and are said to flower twice a year. You can also stagger the flowering time by planting a different times. Planting in Autumn will flower in spring. Planting in April the flowers will appear during July. Planting in June the flowers will appear in September.

Anemones originate from Europe and the Mediterranean. They are perennial, dying back after flowering to become dormant through summer and autumn, regrowing the following spring. Anemone coronaria is best grown in pots which you can move under cover for winter. I must remember to bring them in over winter. I honestly don’t expect to see any flowers this year but if I take care of them over winter maybe I shall be luckier this time. This variety is also known as the florists flower as they grow taller. I have, over the years, tried all the varieties, this one included I’m sure.

I have bought these flowers so many times over the years as I have always loved them and can remember my mother buying the cut flowers for a vase in the house. However, I have never grown them successfully. When I was choosing my order for Farmer Gracy, I hesitated, thinking what’s the point as they never appear in my garden, but when, right at the end, I was a bit short to qualify for free delivery, I impulsively added them. Twenty bulbs for £3.60. After soaking them overnight, I have put them in a medium sized pot with some good compost so I am hoping for a treat this year.

Growing Snakeshead Fritillaria From Seed

Chris May 30, 2020 Garden bulbs, favourite, flowers, Fritillaria, germination, propagation, seeds, Snakeshead

I have planted bulbs of Snakeshead before several times to no avail. Last year I bought another bag of bulbs from Wilko. Only one flower popped up last year. which was encouraging, so we left it in the same large pot and this year we were blessed with about five flowers which have now gone to seed and all but two had popped and cast their seeds to the wind. The remaining seed heads had many seeds inside so Laura has sown some in a tray and I have kept a few in order to research how to grow these beautiful and endangered wildflowers from seed.

We are hoping that this years plants, having already scattered their seed to the wind, will grow on for us next Spring so as with all gardening its a waiting game now. The undisturbed bulbs should multiply too so fingers crossed.

Fritillaria seed ripens in mid to late summer and is best sown as soon as ripe or soon after in autumn. While older seed may still be viable it develops germination inhibitors that can make late sowings germinate erratically. In the wild Fritillaria spreads its seed by wind dispersal and seeds germinates on the surface of the ground. When sowing at home it is best to sow the seed on the surface of gritty compost and not bury it.

Water the seeds and place in a cool, sheltered place out of doors such as in a cold frame. Fritillaria seed requires a period of cold to stratify before germination so the pots can be left outdoors through the winter until they germinate which is usually in the Spring. Check the seed regularly for any germination and remove immediately to a bright place.

Once germinated keep the pot in a sunny position and keep watered throughout the growing season until the seedlings start to die down for their summer dormancy. By the end of the first year the baby bulbs will be small and difficult to handle so it’s better not to pot them on until the end of their second year. A typical Fritillaria will probably take 5 to 6 years from sowing to flowering.

https://www.citychickens.co.uk/?s=snake+in+the+grass&searchsubmithttps://www.citychickens.co.uk/?s=snake+in+the+grass&searchsubmit

The snake’s head fritillary is one of the most exquisite jewels in the treasure house of British wildflowers with a long list of common names which include Checkered Daffodil, Chess Flower, Frog-cup, Leper lily and Guinea-hen Flower. The bell-shaped flowers are unmistakable for their nodding heads, sometimes of pure white, or more frequently marked with a delicate chequerboard pattern in shades of purple. This rare British wildflower is now protected in its native meadows, but will always attract attention in a woodland garden, rockery, or naturalised in grass .
The white form of this rare British native is rarely found in the wild. It flowers from March to May growing to between 15 and 40 cm in height. In the wild it is commonly found growing in grasslands in damp soils and river meadows and can be found at altitudes up to 800 metres, although it takes readily to garden culture where it makes a superb border plant.

.https://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/view_seed_item/2315

Success 2022 – Spring

We have Snakeshead flowers plus grasslike seedlings appearing here and there in the garden. It was so exciting spotting fully formed plants and has been well worth the wait. I think they have to be my favourite plant for this year. At present we have red checkered flowers and I am looking for seeds of the white variety.

Seed Collecting and Bulb Planting

Chris September 27, 2017 Garden Autumn, bulbs, flowers, seeds, Tips

I have quite a lot of bulbs already in the garden both in the ground and in pots. However I couldn’t resist a few more and have bought some single snowdrops, Russian Snowdrops and Iris bulbs. Now I have to decide where to plant them. My other hesitant purchase was English Bluebells. I already have some very old Bluebells in the garden so I must be sure not to plant them too near to each other I think. My garden is quite small but my appetite for flowers is enormous. Laura has also caught the bug and has bought Glory of the snow and Honeybells, a new one to me. Update – Most of the new bulbs are now either in the garden or in pots.

: English Bluebell

: Honey Bell

: Glory of the Snow

Our other passion has been seed collecting. As well as collecting as many as we can from flowers in the garden, which is very rewarding, we have been known to steal the odd seed head from friends. Whilst watching Gardeners World last week I saw something that made me smile and think, why didn’t I think of that. There was a couple who had dedicated their garden to perennials and wildlife. The lady shocked me when she said when my flowers have gone to seed I simply cut off a stem that has seed heads forming and push it into the ground where I want the flower to grow next season and let nature take it’s course and the seeds gently fall exactly where I want them to grow. Well, it’s so simple I just had to try it out. I tried it with Japanese Anemone, Black Eyed Susan and Verbena Lollipop. I will update this post next year with results.

The Science – A mature seed typically consists of a mature plant ovum containing a minute, partially developed young plant, the embryo, surrounded by an abundant supply of food and enclosed by a protective coat. Plants that seed are divided into two main groups: the gymnosperms, primarily cone bearing plants such as pine, spruce, and fir trees, and the angiosperms, the flowering plants. The gymnosperms have naked ovules which, at the time of pollination, are exposed directly to the pollen grains. Their food supply in the seed is composed of a female gametophyte, rather than the endosperm found in angiosperms.

In angiosperms, seeds develop from ovules that are enclosed in a protective ovary. The ovary is the basal portion of the carpel, typically vase shaped and located at the center of the flower. The top of the carpel, the stigma, is sticky, and when a pollen grain lands upon it, the grain is firmly held. The germinating pollen grain produces a pollen tube that grows down through the stigma and style into the ovary and pierces the ovule.

Two male sperm nuclei are released from the pollen grain and travel down the pollen tube into the ovule. One of the sperm nuclei fuses with an egg cell inside the ovule. This fertilized egg divides many times and develops into the embryo. The second male nucleus unites with other parts of the ovule and develops into the endosperm, a starchy or fatty tissue that is used by the embryo as a source of food during germination. Angiosperm seeds remain protected at maturity. While the seed develops, the enclosing ovary also develops into a hard shell, called the seed coat or testa.

Kaffir Lily – Schizostylis – Mrs Hegarty

Chris August 30, 2017 Garden bulbs, flowers, history, KaffirLily, Tips

My Kaffir Lilies came from Sean and Deb. A couple of pots of green that I had no idea about. This Autumn they have thrown up the most amazing pink flowers and on asking Deb found that they are called Kaffir Lilies. I am very keen to divide these and also to try growing more from saved seed. What an unexpected treasure. Schizostylis is Latin for Divided Style.

A bit of research on line and I find:- The flowers are generally a delicate pink or orange red. The flowering clusters look very delicate. It is a member of the Iris family Iridaceae. The variety that I have is Mrs Hegarty. Schizostylis can be planted anywhere in moist well drained soil and are particularly suited to the front of perennial borders. They prefer full sun but will also tolerate a degree of shade especially below deciduous trees or shrubs. Schizostylis are striking in any garden owing to their delicate flowers at a sometimes colourless time of year. Peeping up through early leaf litter, the flowers stand out well against other more conventional autumn and winter shades. The Kaffir Lily which originates from South Africa is evergreen but with slender leaves that will not be too invasive. They will form clumps over the course of a year or so and are splendid in large drifts. Schizostylis also make admirable container plants and if moved to a cold greenhouse during early winter will provide a succession of flowers for several months. The flowers are well suited to cutting. As Schizostylis are evergreen rhizomatous perennials they are normally bought as pot grown plants. When planting add plenty of compost to the planting hole and mulch after planting. Schizostylis can be grown from seed. Be aware that the seedlings may be of different colour to the parent. Save the seed until spring and sow in gentle heat. Schizostylis can be propagated by dividing the rhizomes during early spring.

Schizostylis plants such as Kaffir lilies can be grown from tubers or seeds. Tubers should be buried at about 5cm deep in the spring. Seed should be sown before the last frost of spring lightly covered with topsoil. They can grow in either sunny or partially shaded conditions and requires an area of the garden that has good drainage. Ideally the soil that the lily grows in will be rich, moist and have a PH that is neutral to slightly acidic. If you plan to start off indoors then start about two or three months in advance as they need to be transplanted just after the last frost of spring. It should take from one to three months for seeds to germinate at a temperature of 12-15 degrees centigrade. Once ready transplant outdoors at about 25cm apart.

Trying To Grow Agapanthus Africanus From Collected Seeds

Chris August 26, 2017 Garden Agapanthus, bulbs, flowers, propagation, seeds

I have never grown Agapanthus before. The first time I became aware of them was when my son Sean and his partner Deb came to Adam’s house to create an instantly beautiful garden when Adam received his new wheelchair and wanted to spend time outside. The Agapanthus arrived big and beautiful and smothered in vibrant blue flowers and were put in at eye level for Adam to enjoy along with many other hardy perennials. As Adam became more and more poorly and Winter arrived we spent most of the time indoors. When Adam passed away in February 2016 I came home and eighteen months have passed.

On 20th August I went to the house for the twins fifth birthday and went out into the garden to see it very neglected but there were the Agapanthus with a few seed heads still containing very ripe seed. I brought a few seed heads home and was very pleased to find 80 seeds just waiting for me to sow. As I had no growing experience of these plants I had a bit of research to do. The name is derived from the Greek for Love Flower apparently.

I have 80 seeds and today, 26th August 2017, I have sown 20 into a module tray of sandy compost with a covering of horticultural grit. Germination should be around 30 days. I have just read another article which advises sowing in March so if the first 20 don’t survive I can try again in Spring. Thursday 15th March 2018 and still no signs of life from last years sowing. Today I have sown two more seeds into individual 3″ pots for another try. 8th April – no sign of life so going for the hat trick and sown another ten seeds in a 7″ pot of damp compost. If I can only get one good plant to maturity I shall have them in the garden forever as they self seed so well.

Apparently there are seven Agapanthus species possibly because they freely hybridise. They are magnificent bulbous plants which produce an unrivalled show of blue when grown well. Their large umbels of blue trumpets are quite unlike anything else. Easily grown in well drained sunny positions. It is essential that the roots do not become waterlogged in Winter. Remember that plants grown in pots are at a risk of freezing whereas the ground usually stays above freezing point especially if the crowns are well protected with a deep mulch. Agapanthus will tolerate being overcrowded which suits them to growing in pots. If they need dividing do this in Spring and do not bury the plants too deeply. Feed tub specimens liberally from Spring until flower bud are seen. All require full sun so the heads will naturally lean towards the sun. . In New Zealand Agapanthus grow particularly well, so well in fact that they are classified as a pernicious weed whose sale is prohibited.

Calla Lily – Zantedeschia

Chris March 11, 2017 Garden bulbs, Calla Lily, flowers

I have bought three rhizomes of the Calla Lily. I am hoping to have them situated close to the pond. I know nothing about them except that for me they are expensive. I have read that they multiply annually so I hope I live long enough to see that. Initially, until the pond area is better prepared, I intend to grow these beautiful flowers in a pot. These bulbs don’t need to be dug up and stored over winter and I am glad about that. Overwintering of bulbs is one of the drawbacks of growing them I think,

The calla lily was originally found in tropical marshlands, which means it is a very thirsty plant that will not tolerate dry periods or neglect from the gardener. Either water the plant regularly during hot summer days or plant the calla lily where it can get lots of water without having to be in wet soil. If there is a small pond in your garden it will be perfect to plant calla lilies close to it just remember that it needs to get to the water, since an artificial pond is not automatically in contact with the earth surrounding it. If this simple request of the calla lily is fulfilled, it will fill your garden. The calla lily is a hardy plant with very little needs but there are some nutritional considerations you might want to try. Just because calla lilies are sometimes considered weeds in their country of origin it does not mean that callas are hardy everywhere. However, if you give your calla lilies a little extra time and a weekly feed the result will show immediately with lots of beautiful flowers stretching up from the healthy plant.

The calla lily or zantedeschia is a genus of twenty-eight different species all native to the southern parts of Africa with a tropical climate from South Africa up to Africa aligned with the northern point of Madagascar. The genus calla was originally named by the famous Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus but as it became apparent that the genus needed to be split up the German botanist Karl Koch named the new genus after his fellow botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi from Italy. It became a major hit in Europe and is still very popular as a wedding or funeral flower.

Update 22nd January 2018 – Having bought these from a top supplier and paid the highest price I was disappointed last year with the performance of these Lilies. Maybe my expectations were too high. This year I have bought three rhizomes from Wilko at £4. They are pink and purple mixed and I can’t wait to get them into the ground.

Asiatic Lily Double Sensation – Lilium

Chris March 11, 2017 Garden bulbs, flowers, Lily

Asiatic Lily Double Sensation from Farmer Gracy has fantastic colour and lovely ruffled petals. It is perfect grown in a container for use on the patio or plant the bulbs in the border where they’ll come up every year. Lilium Double Sensation is one of the most exclusive Asiatic Lilies available on the market. Asiatic Lily Double Sensation is known for its double flowers which create an amazing impact once in full bloom. Planting this delicate and rare Lily variety in pots makes a nice and compact show as the flower size of double flowered Lilies is much bigger than other regular Asiatic Lilies. Double flowering Lilies are very rare and it often takes many years to cultivate and offer them on the market. Lilies are perfect for combining with other perennials, grasses or shrubs. They like to have cool, nourished roots whilst their heads reach for the sun but choose shallow-rooting plants to prevent them sulking at the competition for both nutrients and moisture.

I received these three Lily bulbs as a free gift with a delivery of bulbs from Farmer Gracy in the Netherlands. After reading up about them I think that maybe they will need a large pot of their own as they will be bigger than I thought they would be. Update – April 2018 These bulbs are pushing through already. They didn’t flower last year but I am hopeful this year.

Probably the easiest to grow and hardiest of all the lilies, Asiatic Lilies are usually the first ones to bloom, flowering between June and August. Asiatic Lilies also have the widest range of colours but, unfortunately, most do not have a fragrance. Blooms vary in style, usually in terms of how they display their flowers. Some even hang their beautiful heads in a way reminiscent of pretty paper lanterns. Asiatic Lilies should be planted in full sun in soil that drains well. The bulbs don’t do well in soggy soil.

My diary from 2006