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Wish me luck!
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Message 1.Â
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
I have after seeing and reading to much about planting bulbs in layers decided to try this myself. I have evicted the French Beans added some crockery and wormcastings to the pot and planted Tulips Daffs and on top some crocuses. If all goes to plan I will have a display of Early Bird in Feb-March followed by Happy Spring and finally Garden Sensation. Not sure of the Early Bird will work colour wise but hey it might not work at all!
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Message 2
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Just realiszed that that was not the names of the bulbs from Wilkinson but some odd spring greeting...
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Message 3
Posted by tattiebogle (U11728394) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Hello K-J, I've tried the same this year. They did this on one of the Beechgrove Garden programmes and there was a thread on the same subject a couple of weeks ago.
I have tulips at the bottom, mini daffs in the middle and chionodoxa at the top. According to the packets the chionodoxa should flower from February to March, the daffs from March to April and the tulips from April to May. The bulbs came from a supermarket and cost £1.49 a packet so I should have 2 beautiful tubs for less than a fiver! Will be interesting to see what happens.
Apparently tulips don't like to sit in wet soil so the tubs are sitting underneath plastic garden chairs at the moment to protect them from all this heavy rain we're having. -
Message 4
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
K-J Johansson. Goodluck.
I'm not very good with bulbs for some reason I have little success but grew lillies this year which did really well so spurned on thought I'd try one final time with winter and spring bulbs and bought alium, hyathins, tulips, dafs and crocus.
So far the hyathins are doing nothing, they are for indoors and should at least be showing some sign of life. Tulips and dafs are potted up in a very sheltered spot but soil begining to take on a look of concrete, the crocus are in troughs with gravel on top, no problems there yet. They have all been planted with a mix of compost, bone meal,and is it permite!
Hope you do well with your layers, I'll be pleased if any of my bulbs bloom. -
Message 5
Posted by Twiggy (U3854938) on Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Zoomer. May I ask a stupid question? Why do you put gravel on top? I have planted bulbs for the second time only as the last time I did not have much success.
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Message 6
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Thursday, 7th October 2010
Thanks for your support. Hopefully it will go well although the colours might look a bit odd.
The plant are from the top down
Crocus: Zannenberg Bronze, Feb-Marsh
Daffodil: Double Obdam, March-April
Tulip: Viridiflora Spring Green, April-May
If this works I might post a pic! -
Message 7
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Thursday, 7th October 2010
K-J Johansson. Sounds like you'll have alot of colour right through to Spring. Can't wait to see the pics.
Kit. I'd read somwhere gravel helps retain moisture in the soil, it's actually blue slate not gravel and match's other areas of the garden so it's partly cosmetic. The troughs were watered after I'd planted the bulbs and probably won't be watered again until srping unless really necessary, as they are exposed on the garden path they will still get the autumn sun so I didn't want them drying out. -
Message 8
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 12th December 2010
The Crocuses are finally popping up their heads in the pot, about half a cm but still something. I am quite excited about this.
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Message 9
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Sunday, 12th December 2010
My crocus started showing tiny shoots before the snow and are looking remarkably well in their trough. The aliums and tulips aren't doing anything yet but the hyathins and dafs have small shoots.
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Message 10
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 12th December 2010
My old ones in the window box are also showing their heads but the ones in the boarder are not showing any signs of life yet.
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Message 11
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 16th January 2011
The project seem s to go fine. The crocuses are a couple of centimetres high now.
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Message 12
Posted by tattiebogle (U11728394) on Sunday, 16th January 2011
Hello K-J, glad your crocuses are showing themselves. The top layer of my tubs, chionodoxa, are showing too. It's a miracle after the temperatures we had! Fingers crossed for the daffs and tulips underneath
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Message 13
Posted by punpun (U14553477) on Sunday, 16th January 2011
Hi,
you say you dont have much success with bulbs ??
Why not try this method, instead of planting your bulbs direct into the soil???
Use good compost and plat the bulbs in clay plant pots and then plant the complete pot in the ground, once flowering is over just remove the complete pot to the back of the shed out of sight and you've the ground ready to continue to use for what ever you want to plant next,
The potted bulbs? well they're ready for planting again later in the year. -
Message 14
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 16th January 2011
I thought they wouldn't have enough nutrients to flower again in a pot even if it was sunk into the ground.
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Message 15
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 23rd January 2011
I'm starting to think this project is about to derail now. The daffs are starting to show already. If they spurt, the crocuses will be swamped!
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Message 16
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Sunday, 23rd January 2011
Ooooh. I hope the dafs don't take over, keep us posted.
I'm as pleased as punch with my bulbs - tulips, dafs and crocus all have shoots of about 2inchs or more and the hyathins shoots are about 1inch, I really don't know what I did in previous years for them not to grow.
The allium bulbs aren't showing yet though but patience in a virtue, theres still time for them to grow, fingers crossed. -
Message 17
Posted by tattiebogle (U11728394) on Sunday, 23rd January 2011
Hey K-J and Zoomer, you must both have very green fingers to have all this growth! Daffs and snowdrops are showing themselves in my garden, but in my multi-layered pots only the top layer, chionodoxa, is through yet. Wish I had see-through pots so I could see what was happening!
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Message 18
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 23rd January 2011
Will do. Isn't it too early for the alliums to show?
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Message 19
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Monday, 24th January 2011
Think you are right K-J it probably is to early for the allium to start showing.
I've just received some more bulbs mail order, they were free so couldn't resist after my initial success with spring bulbs.
Lily's, 3 each of - Blackout, Val di Sole and tresor. They look very healthy but I'm not sure what to do with them now, I didn't expect them to arrive till February/March. I grew lily's successfully last year but I think they are now dead in their pot. It's frozen solid and I didn't realise they should have been lifted and stored
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Message 20
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Monday, 24th January 2011
No idea if they are dead but the normal bulbs seems to survive being frozen.
I have two Lemonbalm stardust lillies that I planted last year. One flowered and the other was found intact when I planted some tulips. No idea if they can survive this weather in the ground.
Slightly worried that my allium and my imperial crown or what it is called has survived winter. -
Message 21
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
This is the status of the pot at the moment. I quite like the grit against the green and terracotta.
Shouldn't be long until I get some flowers. -
Message 22
Posted by darren p (U8518743) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
i use potting grit with all my pots... i do not love the look of bare soil- even in the borders. brown= not pretty ... crocus' are up and in bloom- sieboldii tricolor. and c . chrysanthus. reticulated iris are back and about 10 cm tall- kept in a dry and baking hot site over summer. have lots of left over snow drops to go into nice big pots for the front door area.
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Message 23
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
It seems like my correction of the photos seems to be lost.
So yours are already up and flowering! The ones in the windowbox are on their way and the ones in the border are also slowing coming up but none of the have gone as far as the ones in the pot. -
Message 24
Posted by bookertoo (U3655866) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
Lily bulbs do not need lifting, they can and do freeze solid every year in my pots, and some of them have been in the same pots for 10 years or more. They never get more than a fresh top dressing of compost plus a bit of pelleted rganic chicken manure in April or thereabouts Come June to September dpending on type, they flower their little socks off. They do not like being lifted and moved about, leave 'em alone, they'll flower again.
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Message 25
Posted by bookertoo (U3655866) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
Alliums are rather variable, have some which come back year on year, others far more tender and even with the protection of a cool greenhouse did not survive. However, hardy or not, there is a long time to go before you can expect to see new shoots from last years plantings. Some of my old tough evergreen(ish) ones are showing new leaves, about 1/4 inch or so!!
Crocus and snowdrops indeed doing their thing, with as yet unidentified green bulb shoots all over the place - reticulata iris look as if they will not be long before opening - unless it gets too chilly then they will wait a bit in my experience. -
Message 26
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
My iris reticulata are already in full flower. They went from half up to flowering over night last week. They have happily lived in the same windowbox for more than 5 years now.
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Message 27
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
K-J your bulbs are looking good
My crocus nearest the house are just beginning to show one or two flower buds. Daffs and tulips have along way to go, they are still only shoots.
Had another look at last years lillies, the pot has dofrosted, the bulbs look healthy but have pushed their way to the surface so may need to dig them up to bury them deeper.
bookertoo. Two out of the four alliums in the GH have tiny shoots just beginning to show through the soil, it's like watching treasure appear. -
Message 28
Posted by spirit78 (U10872643) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
I tried layering last year and it worked really well. Unfortunately I moved them to the bottom of the garden after flowering to die back naturally, and a darn squirrel dug up one of the pots. I thought I’d put all the bulbs back but there’s nowhere near as much growth this year in either pot.
I have to lift my alliums every year. The first 2 years I left them in and most rotted away, the ones that survived sent out foliage but didn’t flower. They don’t seem to survive in pots or the ground for me. In storage they start growing around now, I potted mine up last week in the greenhouse after seeing new growth, then I plant them out later in the year. -
Message 29
Posted by spirit78 (U10872643) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
Hi zoomer, are the lilies at the top not clusters of bulblets/bulbils? My pots are full of them; I’ll have to re-pot them this year as they’re overcrowded now.
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Message 30
Posted by Inkadog (U14278499) on Saturday, 5th February 2011
Usually my Danfordea irises bloom first [the yellow ones], but this year my reticulatas have the jump on them. Odd.
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Message 31
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Sunday, 6th February 2011
Hi, Spirit78
Yes, the bulbs are in clusters does that mean they will need splitting and repotting or will they flower again this year if just let. -
Message 32
Posted by spirit78 (U10872643) on Sunday, 6th February 2011
Hey zoomer, bulblets are miniature bulbs that usually form at the base of the stems, but I’ve seen them growing all the way up in the past. I think of them as seeds because they need growing on for a few years before they’ll be big enough to flower.
If you empty out the pot, you’ll probably find that the bulbs you planted last year are still at the bottom where you left them and at the top there are all these miniature replicas. You can leave them as they are, mine have been in the same pot for 4-5 years, but are now bursting out.
The only problem is, they can look a little untidy. You get the tall stems from the main bulbs, and small thin stems that that don’t always stand erect. You can leave them as they are, take out an inch or two of compost with the bulblets or re-pot the whole thing. -
Message 33
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 6th February 2011
Does all lilies do this or is it just some of them ie Asiatic, Oriental or Trumpet`?
I'd love to see some bulblets shooting up from my Lemon Stardust since only one of them surfaced last year. -
Message 34
Posted by spirit78 (U10872643) on Sunday, 6th February 2011
Hey K-J, I think all lilies reproduce this way (as well as producing seed) but I’m not 100% certain. I have dwarf, Asiatic and the Giant/Goliath, all of which grow bulblets. I should mention that they can also grow on the roots as well.
If you leave the main bulbs undisturbed, once they grow to a certain size they’ll split/divide into 2 parts (you’ll see two stems growing very close together). They do need good conditions though. I feed mine with tomato food in the summer and I’m over run with them now
I found a great website about this a couple of years ago, I’ll see if I can find it. -
Message 35
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 6th February 2011
Cool, thanks. I was trying to grow some seeds that I got earlier last year from my plant but the dreaded damping off killed the one that germinated.
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Message 36
Posted by spirit78 (U10872643) on Monday, 7th February 2011
I tend to cut off the spent flowers before they start producing seeds, so I’ve never had any to try. I think Carol Klein showed how to propagate lilies using individual scales in her Life in a cottage garden program, which would be easier and they’d be clones, where as lilies grown from seed would be hybrids.
Anyway, here is the link; I hope you find it useful -
Message 37
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Monday, 7th February 2011
I am quite facinated by plants that have unstable genome or are easy to cross (I have great hopes for my Helibors). you never know what will come up. That's why I tried to saw the seeds and I quite like growing things from seeds.
Thanks for the link. I think you might have given it to me before on the lily seed thread. -
Message 38
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Thursday, 10th February 2011
K-J how are your layed bulbs fairing. I've brought my tulips and daffs out from their sheltered spot but left the bubble wrap on for now, I don't want to lose the terracotta pots to frost.
Thanks for the link spirit78, watched Carol Kleins Life in a Cottage Garden, the one which included the bit about propogating lillies, looks fairly straight forward, me thinks I'll try it with last years bulblets.
The free lillies I have from this year and potted up a couple of weeks ago have started to show shoots, didn't expect them so soon. I'd put then in a plastic GH not expecting any show until at least April. -
Message 39
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Thursday, 10th February 2011
Both the pot and the bulbs are doing fine. Now flower yet but they should be flowering soon I hope. I just hope the daffs doesn't overtake them before that. If they take of they might smother them.
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Message 40
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 20th February 2011
This is today's status of the the bulbs. The daffs are really going strong. I just hope the crocuses wont be swamped by them before they start flowering.
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Message 41
Posted by margaretstar (U14415248) on Sunday, 20th February 2011
Looks good K-J, some of those crocus will be out very soon, don't think the daffs will swamp them, tricky thing though that succession planting it seems. I've never tried it myself.
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Message 42
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 20th February 2011
I think they will be out any day next week but we need some sun for that!
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Message 43
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Saturday, 12th March 2011
This is the state of the layer pot about a week ago. The Daffs are swamping the pot left right and centre, but at this angle it looks less swamped. Think next level will look better.
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Message 44
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Saturday, 12th March 2011
Looking good
Crocus- I had a lovely show of white blooms for a couple of weeks and a trough with purple and orange blooms. I'm still waiting for the 'king of the striped' crocus to make a show! The dafs were narcissus, they are all in bloom, the tulips, well one pot has flowered but look a bit deformed, the other is still at the buds stage but looking good. The alliums are now a few inches high and the lillies are all romping away varying from an inch to 8 inch high.
The hyacinths have been painfully slow to flower and are still fairly small not looking at all like the picture on the packet.
What are you going to do with your bulbs once they flower and die back. Can they be lifted and saved for next year, I wasn't quite sure what to do with mine as the troughs and pots will be needed for other flowers. -
Message 45
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 13th March 2011
Thanks!
I haven't thought that far ahead yet but I probably replant them in my garden but I assume you could probably just keep them until next year. I might get some more of the yellow ones as I quite liked them.
Not sure I will make one of these next year as they foliage seems to grow to fast for it to do this in succession. -
Message 46
Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Sunday, 24th April 2011
This project has now truly gone to pot. Due to me not watering the pot enough only one each of the tulips and the daffs flowered. The daffs produced buds but only one has opened. Doubt the rest will as they are probably dried up.
If I repeat this next year I'll probably leave out the daffs and tulips as they grew too much foliage, hiding the crocuses and instead plant Iris Iriculata, corcuses and snakesheads as I think the stems won't swamp the whole thing. Might even throw in some Rip van Winkle as I quite like them.
My conclusion of this project is water more and consider the foliage more as that caused the most problem. -
Message 47
Posted by tattiebogle (U11728394) on Sunday, 24th April 2011
I planted my pots with chionodoxa, daffodils and tulips. The chionodoxa and the tulips were lovely, but there was nothing to be seen of the daffs. In retrospect I think this might have been a good thing. As you say, Swedboy, the foliage of the daffs would have got in the way of the tulips. I have no idea why no daffs came up - not even one.
I would do this again, but next time I would use small daffodils like tete-a-tete, so their foliage wouldn't get in the way. I was pleased enough this year, I got 2 lovely showings of flowers from one pot.
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