Summer-flowering bulbs are great for filling in gaps in beds and borders and creating colourful displays. Most retailers supply these as either bulbs, tubers or corms and will have a range of different varieties available from Begonias to Freesia and Gladioli! Read on to discover the ins and out.

General Advice

Plant from early Spring, just as the weather begins to warm up, and place in beds and borders or pots and containers. It’s a good idea to plant tender summer-flowering bulbs in pots as these can be lifted and brought indoors over the winter. To lift these bulbs for winter storage, remove any loose soil and carefully remove any dead leaves. Leave the bulbs to dry overnight and then store in a paper bag in frost-free conditions.

Planting Summer Flowering Bulbs

There is a simple rule of thumb when planting bulbs; Plant bulbs at twice the depth of the height of the bulb and four times their width apart. e.g 5cm tall bulbs need to be planted 10cm below the surface of the ground and 20cm apart.

Please check the bag for any additional planting instructions.

They are fine to plant even if a little green growth is showing, they’ll just need a good watering when you plant them, and then only when the soil is dry. Leave them in the ground once they die back – they’ll come back bigger and better each year.

Whilst all the energy that a bulb needs in order to grow is stored in the bulb itself, they will do better if you feed them with fertiliser when in active green growth.

Aftercare

Whilst all the energy that a bulb needs in order to grow is stored in the bulb itself, they will do better if you feed them when in active green growth. Your bulbs will die back at the end of the growing season. Leave them in the ground once they die back – and they should come back bigger and better each year!