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Bulbs in a care home with no garden

InglezinhoInglezinho Posts: 568
in Problem solving
My Auntie Lizzie is 94 and lives in a care home. She is p***** off ( her expression) because she cannot grow anything, as there is no proper garden and it is too warm and dry. I have tried reasoning with her but she insists I dig up some bulbs from her old garden , mainly daffodils and tulips and a few iris tubers and plant them outside her window - a tiny first floor balcony.
Help please!
Everyone likes butterflies. Nobody likes caterpillars.
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Posts

  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Would the care home let you attach a window box to the balcony?
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • InglezinhoInglezinho Posts: 568
    Yes but I don't it would be much good for her bulbs.
    Everyone likes butterflies. Nobody likes caterpillars.
  • WonkyWombleWonkyWomble Posts: 4,541
    Bulbs are quite happy in containers as long as they have good drainage and are planted deep enough. The iris need the rhizome to sit above the soil as they like to bake in the sun. I think it's a great idea! Best of luck!
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Mt Great Aunt Sylvia  (Legend) lived in an old peoples complex . They had gardeners, but anyone who wanted a bit could have a flower bed to care for. It would have a sign, saying whose patch it was.  The non gardeners just had the pleasure of looking at all the other gardens.  Slightly different, but surely there is some planting around the place, it's not just a tower block is it?
  • celcius_kkwcelcius_kkw Posts: 753
    Well.. growing bulb in containers is extremely common and should not be a problem at all.. you don’t even have to dig up her old bulbs.. just buy new ones, they should be well reduced in price this time of the year seeing as it’s the end of the bulb season? 
  • InglezinhoInglezinho Posts: 568
    Oh yes I do. You don't understand old people Celcius.
    Everyone likes butterflies. Nobody likes caterpillars.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Over the years I have been given plants by various people, and I look at them and have memories.  It's not quite the same as just another bag of bulbs from the supermarket.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Give her the ones she wants and a few pots of new ones as well. She’ll be happy when some of them flower ... whichever ones it is. 
    As @WonkyWomble says just make sure you plant them deep enough. 
    If it’s a sunny spot some species tulips should be happy there. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    Also if it's dry and sunny there are other interesting things that need those conditions and that it's harder to grow in the garden, so you and she could experiment a bit. 

    I expect to be exactly like your aunt when I get old. They'll have to wheel me out through a canopy of leaves.
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    She might enjoy a few new things for later too. You could maybe try some freesias for scent or something like Alstromerias for summer flowers, or begonias, there are lovely ones available these days, not like the little bedding ones, and there are lots of small bulbs that are happy in containers, so you could start some off at home, keep some, and take some in when they are ready to flower, take the pot home when they are done and plant them in the garden, so you get to enjoy them too :)
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