So why not take advantage of these ideal conditions to plant spring-flowering bulbs that’ll bring a succession of colour to your garden from late winter right through spring?
Interestingly, a bulb is a complete DIY plant kit.
After flowering, the leaves and roots of a bulb work hard to recreate everything in miniature within the bulb, ready to flower again next year when prompted by the correct temperatures.
That’s why it’s so important to allow the leaves to remain and die back naturally once their work is finished.
In general, bulbs like a sunny spot.
Early-flowering bulbs can do well in woodland situations where they get sunlight before the trees come into leaf.
For best results, choose moist but well-drained soil and avoid areas that flood.
When choosing where to plant your bulbs, think about the strong East Lothian winds and the height your bulbs will grow to.
In our experience, long-stemmed tulips flowering around late April and May can be easily snapped in the wind and should be sheltered.
If you’re planning a succession of flowering, here are some ideas:
February
Generally speaking, shorter-stemmed bulbs are the earliest to flower.
Mother Nature has realised that lower-growing bulbs have a better chance of survival in harsh winter conditions.
Consequently, bulbs such as snowdrops, crocus, dwarf iris and dwarf narcissus are amongst the first to flower.
Snowdrops are amongst the first spring plants to flower(Image: Supplied)
For an early dwarf narcissus, you could choose ‘January’ or ‘February Gold’ varieties, both of which grow to approximately 25cm and are ideal in planters or at the edge of a border.
The delicate dwarf iris are best in planters whilst snowdrops and crocus thrive in lawns or under trees and will happily multiply to produce increasing amounts of flower with every year that passes.
March
As we get into March, there’s more choice.
Amongst the dwarf narcissus varieties, ‘Minnow’, ‘Jetfire’, ‘Canaliculatus’ or the aptly-named ‘Rip Van Winkle’ are all customer favourites.
Dwarf tulips, with their pretty blooms and short stems, are particularly well suited to containers or rockeries.
One of the earliest is tulip ‘The First’ with white/red flowers and grows to 20cm, but there’s a wide selection of dwarf tulips that flower in March/April varying in height between the ‘Albion Star’ variety at 15cm and ‘Mary-Ann’, which will reach 35cm high.
For fragrance, garden hyacinths generally start to flower in March.
Tulips and hyacinths are good to plant in March(Image: Supplied)
Chionodoxa is often overlooked but definitely is worth considering as it multiplies well and grows to only 10cm.
These quickly create a confetti-like carpet of tiny star-shaped flowers in striking blue, white or rose pink.
For ground cover, varieties such as Anemone Blanda (sometimes called the windflower) or Eranthis (winter aconite) are particularly good in woodland or under trees.
April
For April colour, you can choose some longer-stemmed bulbs, many of which are excellent for cut flowers.
Our traditional daffodils tend to flower from late March into April and perhaps that’s why they are so closely associated with Easter.
Drifts of crocus flowers(Image: Supplied)
Full-size tulips will also begin to flower in April.
Amongst our favourites are ‘Red Impression’ (strong red blooms), ‘Queen of Night’ (satin black flowers) and ‘Golden Apeldorn’ (rich golden yellow flowers), all of which grow to 50-60cm high.
As mentioned earlier, they will require protection from strong winds as the stems snap easily.
May
For May, you could select some of the more unusual tulips.
For example, the double tulips have beautiful full heads reminiscent of peonies, parrot tulips have ruffled petals, lily-flowered tulips have finely pointed petals, and the fringed tulips have an almost lacy edge to the petals.
Possibly our best-selling May-flowering bulb is the allium, which stands tall and has beautiful spherical heads.
Amongst our favourites are A. caeruleum for its unique blue flower, A. Christophii for its pale lilac flower head which is up to 20cm in diameter, and A. Globemaster with its dense purple flower head.
Many alliums are grown for cut flowers but, if left in the garden, they will seed and you may find new ones popping up in unexpected places the following year!
Next
We can only offer an overview in this column but there are hundreds of different spring-flowering bulbs to choose from.
For best results, we encourage customers to choose quality bulbs from a reputable garden centre.
Whilst many think of bulbs only for the spring months, it’s important to mention that the summer-flowering bulbs are an absolute gift for gardeners… and we’ll consider those another time!
If you have any questions, you’ll find more information on our website at merryhatton.co.uk and our plant team are always happy to help.
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