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Summer Bulb Lasagna ideas

mawallace44mawallace44 Posts: 60
in Plants
Having done an autumn and  a spring lasagna I was thinking about summer bulbs. But I am struggling to come with an idea - can you suggest some (apart from Iris's and Hyacinth which my wife is allergic to!)

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Hyacinths are late winter/spring flowering, and Iris rhizomes [the bearded types]  need sun on them, so you can't really use them in the way you can use most bulbs anyway.

    Alliums can be used in pots, but there aren't many others for summer that you could layer them with - maybe Acidantheras. A short allium with those might be ok, but alliums are planted in autumn, so you'd possibly need to lift them to put the acidantheras in - they aren't fully hardy, so need protection in winter. Eucomis are the same - not hardy all over the UK. 
    Lilies need more moisture than alliums, so it would be very difficult to use those two together. 
    There might be a few you can pot up independently, but I can't think of any that could be successfully layered. It's more of a problem with the foliage dying back    :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Honestly I would focus on annuals (or even perennials) rather than bulbs. You could include alliums with something like Geranium 'Rozanne' that will swamp the dying foliage with it's blooms and keep going until Autumn. There are probably a gazillion annuals that would do the same sort of job.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    Summer bulbs are better on their own or maybe with annuals or perennials. You could have pots with lilies, agapanthus, gladioli or crocosmias but combining them in one pot in the lasagne style doesn't make much sense.
  • mawallace44mawallace44 Posts: 60
    Out of interest - how close could you plant alliums in a pot?
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    It depends what they are, something like Purple Sensation, maybe 15-20cm apart? I would space them out more if they were in the ground but 3 to a pot would make sense; or 5 if the pot is really big (over 40cm diameter). Picture how big the flower heads are going to be; do you want them touching or do you want space between them...
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • zoe73aspzoe73asp Posts: 1
    I’m going to grow dahlias and iris from bulb but every time I’ve bought dahlias (flowering ) they are ravished by earwigs and slugs... even new shoots coming from the ground...any tips for keeping them alive!!!
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