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Plants bulbs/corms now or in Spring?

Badly_MaintainedBadly_Maintained Posts: 114
in Problem solving
Hello all,

I have just bought many different types of bulbs & corms (it is a fairly random selection with no underlying rationale I'm afraid).  I was hoping to plant them in 10 litre pots which stay outdoors all the time (against a South-facing wall).  Can any of the following be safely planted out now to brave the UK Winter, or will some need to wait until Spring, or are some entirely unsuitable for outdoors?  The bulbs/corms are as follows:

Gladioli Nanus (mixed)
Puschkinia scilloides var. lianotica (Russian snowdrops)
Scilla siberica (Siberian squill)
Zephyranthes robusta (rain lily)
Anemone St.Brigid
Ixia (corn lily, mixed)
Anemone Blanda
Anemone DeCaen
Freesia (single flowered, mixed)
Sparaxis (harlequin, mixed)
Muscari ameniacum (grape hyancinth, mixed)
Crocus (mixed)
Allium roseum (rose garlic)
Eranthis hyemalis, Cilicica

Thank-you in advance for any advice or help offered.




"If you have a garden in your library, we will want for nothing" Marcus Tullius Cicero (in a letter to Marcus Terentius Varro, 46 B.C.)

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    They all want planting as soon as you buy them or they'll dehydrate and fail.  Indeed, any small bulbs and corms, especially the anemones, benefit from being soaked overnight in cool water to hydrate them.

    You need to look each one up on something like the RHS website to check for how hardy they are and what kind of drainage (and thus compost mix) they need to do well - eg https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/344342/gladiolus-nanus/details

    Your galdiolus nanus and freesias will need to be kept frost free over winter. Maybe others too.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited September 2022
    When you come to looking them up I would also make a note of the planting depths for each one. What type of soil you have may also affect where you plant them.Ixia will not tolerate a wet soil.
    I haven't heard of Sparaxis but it would appear it is better in a green house or very sheltered free draining border.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    10 lt pots are not all that big,  they’re only 9” deep so definitely check how deep to place them.  If you were thinking of layering them, I’m not sure the pots will be deep enough. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I think the use of grit will be necessary too. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • Badly_MaintainedBadly_Maintained Posts: 114
    Thank-you all for your wise advice.
    "If you have a garden in your library, we will want for nothing" Marcus Tullius Cicero (in a letter to Marcus Terentius Varro, 46 B.C.)
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