Amateur Gardening – 21 May 2019

6 AMATEUR GARDENING11 MAY 2019

Spring and summerbulb care

T

HEfoliageofspringbulbswill
bedeadordyingback,so
replenishthebulbsnowtohelp
themreturnwithfullvigour
nextyear.It shouldalsohelp
avoidthemreturning ‘blind’
(withoutflowers).
Thosein theground
shouldbefedwitha
multi-purposefertiliser
suchasblood,fishand
bone,orsulphateof
potash.Pottedbulbs
shouldbegivenliquidhigh-
potassiumtomatofeed.
Leavetheleavestorotdown
sotheyreturnalltheirenergytothe
bulbsfornextyear’sblooms.
Mostbulbscanbeleftin placeto
matureandproduce larger, healthier

plantsthefollowingyear,butbedding

tulipsarebestliftedaftertheirfirstyear’s

flowering.Wedothisbecausethey

rarelyperformaswellaftertheirfirst

flowering,soif youareaftera

dazzlingdisplaynextyear,

buynewin autumn.

Oldbulbscanbelifted

anddried,thenstored

untilautumnfor

replantingsomewhere

lessconspicuous.

However,speciestulips

suchasTulipaaltaica,

T. acuminataandT. humilis

aretoughlittlethingsandcan

beleftin placetofloweryearafteryear,

eventhoughthebulbsandplantsare

considerablysmallerthan the larger,

showy bedding tulips.

Ruth prepares her bulbs for next year’s flowering...

Alwaysdeadhead

after fl owering

How to lift and store your bedding tulips

1

Afterdeadheadingand

whenthefoliagehas

diedback,carefullyliftthe

bulbs from the ground.

Step

by step

2

Removethedead

foliage,wipeoff

remainingsoilandcheck

that the roots are healthy.

3

Makesurethebulbs

arefirmanddiscard

anythataresoftorshow

signs of disease.

4

Drythebulbsin a tray

fora dayortwo,then

storesomewherecooland

dry. Replant in autumn.

Helpyour

summer-flowing

bulbsreach

theirfull

potential

byfeeding

themwith

Growmore,

VitaxQ4,blood,

fishandboneme

orsulphateof potash.

Waterit in andrepeatmonthly

untilsixweeksafterflowering,

whichhelpsprepare the bulbs

fornextyear.

Pottedbulbs,suchasour

agapanthus,havelimitedaccessto

nutrients,sogivethema boostby

removingthetopcoupleof inches

of compostandaddingfresh.

Thenforkin somegranular

fertiliser,asabove,andwaterin.

Repeatfeedingmonthly,until

sixweeksafterflowering.

Makesurecontainersare

raisedonfeetsoexcesswater

canescapeandnotcreate

waterlogging,whichmaycause

the bulbs and roots to rot.

Summer bulbs

Top-dresspottedbulbs

with fresh compost

Feedwithsulphate

ofpotashand

water in

Ifbulbsdidn’tflowerthis

spring,liftandstorethem,

andreplantin autumnin

enrichedsoilsomewhere

sunnyandshelteredat

two-threetimes

their own depth.

I amfeedingourfloweredspring

bulbs with sulphate of potash