In theory, spring is wonderful because it puts an end to winter, but the reality can be something else. It is still cold, the nights are dark, there’s a kind of bone-chilling damp and everywhere seems smeared in mud. Sometimes, spring is better observed from behind a window. “Look it’s happening,” you can say smugly, hands wrapped around a cup of tea while gazing out at pretty things that hardly seem to mind the cold and wet.
The best bulbs are those that get on with things without a fuss. They don’t require lifting or replacing, they don’t mind being in the border or in grass, they die back gracefully and multiply of their own accord. The only energy you have to put in is digging them a suitable hole. I’ll look at smaller bulbs this week and tackle daffodils and species tulips next week.
Crocuses have to be planted in great swaths. Five bulbs look sad, unless they are in a pretty pot with a little grit on top. In the ground, you want a carpet of crocus that will sweep the eye away from the mud and drizzle.
Once crocuses have finished flowering, they produce a mass of leaves: do not mow these off if they are growing in grass. Next year’s flowers depend on the work of these leaves. Early crocuses (C. tommasinianus) are ideal for thin grass, but they do best in full sun. Without it they refuse to open up and show their secrets, the lovely golden stamens. There are numerous cultivars, some of which are sterile so won’t self-seed. I like ‘Roseus’ which is as pink as a crocus can get and looks fragile, but is resolutely not. These will bloom from February to March; plant 5-8cm deep and the same distance apart. Follow up with the spring crocus (C. vernus) and its cultivars.
Crocuses can be tricky in borders, because the soil splashback bedraggles the leaves. Smaller flowers such as chionodoxa are better under shrubs where they can create great pools of blue. Chionodoxa forbesii and its cultivars are some of the best, because the flowers point up, giving you a sea of sky-blue stars with white eyes. They flower in late March; plant 4-8cm deep and 4cm apart.
Finally, plant a few irises by the back door, at the edge of a path or in a pot. The dwarf Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’ has royal-blue flowers splashed with white and a yellow stripe down the tongue. It flowers in early February and likes a sunny, sandy spot. Plant it 10cm deep and the same distance apart. I. ‘Katharine Hodgkin’ is best for a pot or a window box because you’ll want to see it up close. Each flower looks hand-painted, as if dipped in the palest blue ink, then carefully detailed in navy blue and yellow; quite the thing to marvel at from the dry side of a window pane.
