"Spring Fever" container bulb recipe

Following this simple recipe will give you a fantastic flourish of colour next year.

The Crocus will herald the imminent arrival of spring and, as they fade and the days draw out, they will be replaced with the golden heads of the Tete-a-Tete Narcissi. Then even before the Narcissi have gone, the pot will be alive with the foliage of tulips which eventually turns into a blaze of colour.

Ingredients

35cm terracotta bellpot

Good quality multi-purpose compost

Crocks/gravel

3 x terracotta pot feet

Bulbs and Plants

30 x Crocus

12 x Narcissi Tete-a-Tete

10 x Dwarf Tulips

6 x Winter Flowering Pansies

Recipe

Place 50mm of crocks in base of container for drainage.

Fill the pot halfway with multi-purpose compost.

Place the Tulips upright and spaced evenly on the surface of the compost.

Cover with compost carefully, leaving just the tips showing.

Place the Crocus upright and spaced evenly on the surface of the compost.

Cover with compost carefully, leaving just the tips showing.

Aftercare

Prevent the pot from becoming waterlogged by standing in a sheltered spot and raised from the ground with terracotta pot feet.

After flowering feed the plants with a high potash feed and let the leaves die back naturally. When all the leaves have died back, lift the bulbs and plant out in the garden ready for flowering next year.