I keep about half the pots of bulbs in the greenhouse and the rest outside. It was definitely a help last winter when wet conditions were followed by a period of very cold weather. The outside pots suffered and very few of the bulbs survived but the greenhouse contingent was fine.....and they hardly get any water at all until I see some growth. It's always a bit of a gamble as we none of us know what the weather will be like.
That's interesting. You had trouble with daffs, crocus, mini iris etc in pots outside? I thought they would be tough enough and purposed to cold.
The weather ensures that no matter how much we think we have got the hang of it, Mother Nature will prove us to be fools. The garden never ceases to amaze me. One moment the birds and ants are delivering plants that I have struggled to grow and the next, the weather is stamping on my plans and making me rethink everything. It's never dull. Last year I had giant verbascums appear from nowhere and they were magnificent. Fifty years ago I thought I'd got the hang of it. I'm still trying.
As long as your pots can drain well, ie they are raised on pot feet or similar, and you don't experience extremes of cold and wet where you are, the bulbs will be fine outdoors, ideally close to a house wall or fence for some shelter. Your lasagne experiment is a good way to learn about the timings and look of different bulbs as their leaves and flowers develop. I only do single bulb varieties per pot now as I'm not a fan of messy leaves congesting the pot but you can easily remove them. But a lasagne planting can be fun the first time!
They did. After persistent rain they were then deep frozen for days and
days and the result was mush. Nevertheless they did try to grow but the
result was distorted and stunted leaves and no blooms. When I dug them out, they were not nice to handle. I've never had bulbs do that before. The successful greenhouse bulbs were the same varieties and from the same vendors.
I try to keep all the pots of bulbs raised up a bit on chocks of one sort or another, that way they should drain fairly well even if we get a lot of rain.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I try to keep all the pots of bulbs raised up a bit on chocks of one sort or another, that way they should drain fairly well even if we get a lot of rain.
All my pots are able to drain but last winter was brutal for the plants. We have remodelled our garden to take account of the summer conditions but the winter weather has changed as well and we are getting warmer days and also colder periods. It's sorting out the wheat from the chaff, or rather the tender from the resilient.
@Ceres Can I ask where abouts you are? My neck of the woods went down to -6C last winter and I had no problems. Tulips, daffs, crocus, iris retic, snowdrops were all fine.
All of my spring bulbs( and I admit to having a lot for a small space…), get left to their own devices. They are planted in a mix of raised planters (equivalent to veg trucs), and various pots. No special treatment at all. Over time I simply replace any that come blind. I’m honestly pretty messy as I start with ideas of colour schemes and such, but end up moving stuff so much that I forget what was previously planted so after a couple of years of using the same planters they become a multi color jumble.
Marne la vallée, basically just outside Paris 🇫🇷, but definitely Scottish at heart.
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That's interesting. You had trouble with daffs, crocus, mini iris etc in pots outside? I thought they would be tough enough and purposed to cold.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
All my pots are able to drain but last winter was brutal for the plants. We have remodelled our garden to take account of the summer conditions but the winter weather has changed as well and we are getting warmer days and also colder periods. It's sorting out the wheat from the chaff, or rather the tender from the resilient.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.