Suggestions for bulbs/perennials

ham_n_mustard

Hi All
im a total novice in the garden and was looking for some suggestions if possible.
Ideally i'd love to plant some perennials/bulbs that would flower in sequence, giving some colour all through the year. im thinking narcissi/daffs for early flowering, mrs ham_n_mustard has a fondness for lillies, but im sort of lost as to what else i could plant that would compliment these.
we have a south facing garden that gets a lot of sun, if this helps in any way.
any help is appreciated
cheers

magicbastarder

snowdrops and crocuses would give earlier interest than daffodils. alliums for displays later in the year; we've alliums (don't ask me the names!) which finished flowering a month or two ago, and some which only started to bloom in the last week or two, so you can get a good range of timing with them.

Daisy 55

allliums are fantastic!

looksee

Snowdrops are hard to get going. Once they are established they are fine but they are difficult to get started. Suggest you buy them 'green' - pots of green leaf snowdrops actually growing.

With all bulbs, if you just put them into borders you are in danger of losing them/digging them up when they have died down, also you need to leave them until the leaves have died back naturally.

Perennials that don't need a lot of attention - definitely look at geraniums (purple, pink, white) (the perennial ones, not the bright coloured pelargonums that are commonly called geraniums and are sold in pots), all the campanulas (blue), veldt daisies (osteospermum) pink, white, purple - they love sun and need sun to open. There are loads more which I am sure will be suggested.

elsie1b

Dont forget flowering shrubs ,especially those which are scented like Lilac and Philadelphus.

ham_n_mustard

Thanks all for the suggestions, good call on the alliums btw....they're cracking looking

Daisy 55

Don't forget to allow for wanting to pick a few when you are planting! We had to go back and plant more!

stewygriffin

Allium "summer drummer" is a beautifull allium,grows to 6 feet tall.have lots of them planted in my garden and they are very striking indeed.Alliums can rot if planted in wet ground,so put them into the ground on a 1 inch bed of grit to allow water to drain away from them so they dont rot.Plant Camassia bulbs for earlier spring/summer colour,they can be had in purple or white colours.And for even earlier ground cover and colour plant Japanese Anenome bulbs,these will be a mixture of blues,whites and purples.
Snowdrops are best planted when flowering in pots and being sold by garden centres.You will pick up 9cm pots of snowdrops for 2 euro in most garden centres,even cheaper if you shop around.Usually 4-5 flowering snowdrops in a 9cm pot.

Sonnenblumen

Alliums are fine but worth remembering that their flowering period is relatively short, so if you like a fleeting display, perhaps worth consideration? The foliage is quite bulky foliage and often looks very untidy etc.

There's a much wider and plenty of better options out their, and certainly I would not overlook herbaceous perennials or as some other has also suggested flowering shrubs!

celticbhoy27

Currently have gladioli in full flower, theyl need staking unless in very sheltered spot. Crocosmia, especially lucifer is beautiful too, just finishing flowering now.

ham_n_mustard

celticbhoy27 wrote: »

Crocosmia, especially lucifer is beautiful too, just finishing flowering now.

I have one of these. Most of my bulbs were salvaged from the garden of my parents old house before they moved. they had one of these growing in the middle of a huge clump of lilies so it stowed away to my garden. it was a surprise to see it come out, I'd forgotten about it. looks great

elsie1b

If you have room to plant snowdrops and crocus ,you could also plant colchicum which is commonly called Autumn crocus and these bulbs should be available soon. They can even grow in water on a window sill and will flower this season.

stewygriffin

Aconitum aka Monkshood is a nice perennial to plant.Yes its poisonous,but its a wonderfull flower to have in the garden.I have Aconitum "bressingham spire" and "Carmichaelii Wilsonii" in the garden for mid october colour.You cant go wrong with Geranium "rozanne" either.Give it a good hard cut back after it flowers and it sends out new flowers more or less straight away.Bought my Aconitums from Mount Venus Nursery.

ctrl-alt-delete

looksee wrote: »

veldt daisies (osteospermum) pink, white, purple - they love sun and need sun to open. There are loads more which I am sure will be suggested.

Do these need to be protected in harsh cold weather like snow?

We had four in our garden Last Summer, 2 grew huge but they all died off over the Winter.

We have some more this year and I want to cover them come the Winter.

alcea

What about Spanish Squill, Anemone, Freesia (these may need to be lifted and stored over winter), Ixia?

ham_n_mustard

i wasnt reckoning on frost...thanks for reminding me. a bit more homework to do. thanks again for all the suggestions!

elsie1b

Spanish squill or Spanish bluebell has a habit of hybridising with the ordinary bluebell.
The Spanish bluebell was introduced in Britain and Ireland, where it has become an invasive species. The two species hybridise freely, and the resulting hybrid Hyacinthoides × massartiana and the Spanish bluebell both produce highly fertile seed and can invade areas of the native common bluebell. This has caused the common bluebell to be viewed as a threatened species.

Supercell

Big fan of gladioli here. They do need staking though . Lidl and Aldi do the green stakes every now and again which i use as it blends in with the plants nicely. Lovely at this time of year as a lot of other stuff has finished flowering.