In the Garden | Spring flowering bulbs

Provided that they are set out at the right time of year and at the correct depth in free draining soil (they will rot in wet ground), every mature bulb which has its own food supply will grow and bloom without any particular cultural skills.

Combination plantings allow for some effective colour schemes and, in addition, help to disguise some of the remaining foliage after the bulbs have died down.

Mixed plantings of permanent greenery, dwarf bulbs and spring annuals make some of the most attractive combinations for baskets and permanent garden pots.

In larger, gardens bulbs can be naturalised in grassland which can be left unmown until the bulbs have flowered – an ideal setting for crocus and dwarf jonquils, which often look their best in drifts of colour.

Daffodils and other members of the large Narcissus group are some of the most popular for several reasons. They all contain both early and later flowering varieties, which extends the growing season; many are perfumed; they make good cut flowers and can be left year after year while they continue to increase by offsets.

Along with the commonly named ‘paper-whites’, the first to appear from early winter on, jonquils are one the most fragrant groups. ‘Sol d’Or’ has orange and yellow blooms and the creamy white rosetted ‘Elicheer’ are long time favourites.

Bulk buys are available from local nurseries as well as the internet – a useful source for those who have difficulty travelling around the city.

While most of the bulbs mentioned can be planted out from now on, tulips and Dutch hyacinths require the cooler soils of autumn, so should be held over until the end of April or early May.

Blue is a pretty colour contrast to predominately white, yellow or pink early bulbs. Both the deep blue muscari (grape hyacinths) and the star flower triteleia make great ribbon plantings in clumps, producing dozens of new blubs every year along borders and paths.

Towards November there’s the brilliant blue of Brodiaea Queen Fabiola, which makes an excellent cut flower, while one of the tallest, Havana Lily, is an improved variety of the popular blue scilla peruviana.