By Cheryl Cummings The short dreary days of mid winter seem to offer little to temp us out into the garden and away from the fireside pleasures of armchair shopping for summer colour. We are seduced by photographs of captivating flowering bulb combinations, colour is the element of our gardens which we miss most during this predominantly brown season, but there is a lot more to the vibrant flowers we love than their colour alone. Out of sight, out of mind? While we are inside bemoaning the lack of light and sunshine, outside in our gardens the earth’s natural processes are carrying on as normal. Out of sight, out of mind and underground things are stirring and if we were...

Gardening with bulbs doesn’t have to be hard work. There are certainly bulb varieties that should be planted from fresh bulbs every year, but there are also garden beauties that will pop up by themselves every year ready for some flowering action. These bulbs are called “naturalising bulbs”, and you may be surprised to find out just how many species and varieties you can use in this way. Botanical Tulip Lady Jane™ + Muscari Armeniacum Botanical Tulips For the sake of simplicity, let’s look at tulips under two broad categories. You get hybrid tulips that have been bred for outstandingly showy blooms and botanical tulips that are really the ancestors of the hybrid tulips. Some tulip hybrids will perform well...