Of all of the flowers enjoyed by gardeners, bulbous plants must be among the most versatile, flowering in every season and growing in a wide range of conditions. Most people associate bulbs with spring, for in this season, throughout the UK, multitudes of snowdrops, crocus and daffodils push through frozen earth to rouse the garden from its winter slumber, and signal that (hopefully) better weather is on its way. However, many lesser-known bulbous plants, just as worthy of a place in our gardens, can sound an equally jubilant wake-up call.

Early risers

Appearing with the snowdrops, but rather more substantial, is Leucojum vernum (spring snowflake). Naturalised in some areas of Dorset, its stout green leaves appear, rather hopefully, in early winter, flowering stems later catching up with, and overtopping ,the foliage. The dangling white flowers open by early spring, and look to my eye rather like inverted crowns, the emerald-green tips to each petal giving more immediate impact in the garden than most snowdrops. Clumps bulk up in time, and I have found this plant reliable in shaded shrub borders where bulbs are often disturbed by my over-enthusiastic weeding later in the season. Leucojum vernum var. carpathicum is similar but the tips are yellowish, and flowers said to be larger. Spring snowflakes are not tough enough for naturalising in grass: for this you need larger and later L. aestivum (summer snowflake).

Emerging in autumn is the overwintering foliage of Ipheion. When in bloom, usually from March (but intermittently for several months later), this delicate-looking flower is a delight - lightly scented, star-shaped blooms, appearing in succession, although the plant’s airs and graces are soon blown if you crush one of the soft green leaves: they produce a strong oniony smell. Ipheion need sun to thrive and can become invasive in ideal conditions; try them along the base of a sunny hedge. In summer, plants become dormant. The usual flower colour is pale blue, but selected colour forms are available: I. uniflorum ‘Charlotte Bishop’ 21 is a strong rose-pink; ‘Froyle Mill’ 24 is rich purple in flower but not free-growing; ‘Wisley Blue’ has large blue flowers. Head and shoulders above these (but best in an alpine house) is I. ‘Alberto Castillo’ 18. It is larger than other selections - at 30cm tall, perhaps double the height - the stems bearing pure white flowers. Treasure it in a pot and overwinter under glass, or cold conditions may kill it.

You might keep it with another spring-flowering plant, Cyclamen repandum 13. This species starts into growth in early January but suffers if temperatures drop below -5°C. In mild areas it will grow outside in a sheltered, shaded site in moist, leafy soil. Elsewhere keep it in a pot of well-drained compost; it is said to grow well beneath glasshouse staging. A variable species, larger and more upright than familiar C. coum (which flowers at this time of year), it is found over a wide geographical region. Plants have variable flower colour (all have sweet scent) and leaf patterns. Larger and still more tender is C. persicum, a parent of the florist’s cyclamen, although the charms of this dainty species are often lost in breeding. Despite its elegant poise and delicate soft pink flowers, held above marbled leaves, the plant’s real appeal lies in its delicious sweet scent that can fill a cool glasshouse.

Pick of the popular

Daffodils must be the most commonly planted of bulbs, but generally it is the large-flowered cultivars, or a few dwarf ones such as ubiquitous Narcissus ‘Tête-à-Tête’ that are seen. There are, however, hundreds of others deserving closer inspection, with graceful poise and combinations of soft, yet glowing colours. Some naturalise well in grass.

Perhaps the earliest is sought-after Narcissus ‘Cedric Morris’. This tiny daffodil, up to 12cm tall, is named after the great plantsman who found it in northern Spain, and is often in flower before Christmas. It deserves good treatment and likes a well-drained spot in some sun, but not too dry, somewhere it will not be disturbed. I have managed to accidentally dig it up twice, spearing the precious bulbs, so mark its position well.

Another small early selection is Narcissus ‘Midget’, which produces its little golden trumpets in February. In March the choice widens. I admired N. ‘Lemon Silk’ at an early RHS London Flower Show last year. Larger than ‘Midget’ and ‘Cedric Morris’, it has soft yellow downward-facing flowers of elegantly recurved petals (tepals) and long trumpets. It reaches 30cm and thrives in sun or semi-shade. In April flowers beautiful Narcissus ‘Segovia’ 8, a choice dwarf 12cm tall, with recurved white petals and flattened yellow-green trumpets. Other good choices include N. ‘Fairy Chimes’ 14, its 15cm stems bearing four or five pendent flowers, and N. x cazorlanus 23 with relatively large golden trumpets.

Many old cultivars of daffodil have been lost. One brought back from the brink is Narcissus ‘Pencrebar’ 7, known for years as Queen Anne’s Jonquil, but assumed lost. A single plant was discovered in Cornwall and named after the place it was found growing. It produces golden, double, scented blooms, so full they resemble roses. Flowering in April, it has proved good at naturalising.

Once daffodils start to fade, we look to tulips. Species tulips are more subtle than the gaudy (though much-loved) hybrids. Perhaps easiest and most-often encountered is Tulipa tarda 12. This central-Asian species flowers between April and May, the white, almost starry blooms displaying prominent yellow centres, giving an effect rather similar to that of Limnanthes (poached egg plant). Each small bulb may produce several flowers (usually three or four) with strappy green leaves; the plants reach no more than 10cm high. I find it grows well in a sunny, well-drained rock garden; the bulbs hate summer wet, so may need lifting. Try it through a carpet of black Ophiopogon.

Taller and more slender than Tulipa tarda, T. humilis 22 is also easily grown in sun, with blooms ranging from pale pink through red to purple, as in T. humilis Violacea Group 20. Flowers have yellow or black blotches at the centre, and appear from April. The lustrous red flowers of T. linifolia 15 open in April, above fine foliage, on stems 20cm high. In a sunny, well-drained spot it will spread.

There are others well worth trying, such as T. acuminata with its eccentrically pointed petals (tepals) and T. clusiana 6, flowering in June, its pinkish-red outer petals contrasting nicely with pale yellow or cream inner ones. Although some tulips will spread in borders, it is not easy to naturalise them: sparkling scarlet T. sprengeri, which spreads via stolons (as well as seed), is one of the latest to bloom and perhaps the best bet to grow in grass.

Diminutive but desirable

A popular bulb is Fritillaria, and while native F. meleagris (excellent for naturalising) and spectacular F. imperialis (crown imperial) remain the most-often seen, others are freely available. Tiny tongue-twister F. michailovskyi 2 can be bought as a bulb, as well as ‘in the green’ (in active growth). It has nodding bells of dark (miserable, I think) purple, each with a yellowish edge, held on stems 10cm tall. It is likely to appeal to lovers of the diminutive, but in the garden proves short-lived; it will grow better in a bulb frame or free-draining pocket in a rock garden or scree.

A better garden choice is F. pallidiflora 9, a taller, easily grown species with glaucous foliage and heads of yellowish flowers marked with brown inside. It likes a moist, shaded spot in rich soil, but spreads freely, flowering from April on stems 30cm tall. It looks fine emerging from clouds of blue Brunnera or Myosotis, or with blue-flowered bulbs such as Muscari or Scilla. Others to try are free-seeding purple-and-green F. acmopetala and F. thunbergii with its clambering stems.

Erythronium are among the most beautiful of woodland plants, and European native E. dens-canis does well in grass. This little plant with mottled leaves and sultry purple flowers can be used in spring borders too; there are good selections such as rich purple E. dens-canis ‘Lilac Wonder’, ‘Pink Perfection’ (appropriately named) and pristine white ‘Snowflake’. Other species, however, have more flower power: E. revolutum 25 from the USA is taller with larger lilac-pink flowers and long, spotted foliage. It enjoys similar cool, moist, conditions and self-seeds freely. With greater impact still is E. ‘Pagoda’, reaching 20–30cm high, each flowering stem bearing two to five large golden blooms above lush bronzy-green foliage; E. tuolumnense 3 is similar. My favourite is E. californicum ‘White Beauty’ 16 with glorious cream-and-yellow flowers. Large clumps of this make a fine sight, flowers shining in the low light.

Growing in the shade of an old apple tree in my garden with E. ‘Pagoda’ is Anemone nemorosa (wood anemone). There are various forms: I favour A. nemorosa ‘Vestal’ with little double flowers and ‘Robinsoniana’ with flowers of greyish-mauve. Both are as tough as the proverbial old boots. Anemone nemorosa ‘Bracteata’ is a strange fellow with single or semi-double flowers, green petals mingling among white (rather like the curious flowers of Clematis ‘Alba Luxurians’); this is taken one stage further in A. nemorosa ‘Bracteata Pleniflora’ 1 with fully double white flowers surrounded by a ruff of green bracts.

I planted Anemone pavonina 10 nearby for the promise of large, single, scarlet, pink or mauve flowers. It flowered well at first, but last year there was only foliage. This is due to an error on my part. This species from the Mediterranean grows in olive groves in full sun, not the woodland conditions I have inflicted upon it. It must be moved.

Marvellous miscellany

It seems to me there is an iris for almost every week of spring and early summer, starting with little I. reticulata and I. danfordiae, so-often grown, and ending with ‘Dutch’ iris that take us into summer. Flowering usually in April are Juno irises, of which the easiest is I. bucharica 4. The distinctive Junos produce flowers on often tall, leafy stems, rather than separate flower stems; I. bucharica, which grows to 40cm, has attractive yellow-and-white flowers. Others worth a try in well-drained sun include I. aucheri and I. willmottiana.

Many spring bulbs produce blue flowers. Muscari armeniacum (grape hyacinth) is a pest in many gardens, but do not discount other species. Not all are blue: M. macrocarpum 19, while mauvish in bud, opens to a fetching golden-yellow. Given sun and good drainage it multiplies; mix among small blue-flowered bulbs for contrast. A more-familiar colour with two-tone flowers is M. grandifolium 5, the lower ones midnight blue, the upper a paler hue; M. neglectum is similar.

Puschkinia scilloides is appealing. It has starry white flowers, striped with blue, reminding me of a sailor’s shirt, and blooms in March. I have seen it in a scree garden, through slate chippings, providing an attractive smattering of flowers. It naturalises in good conditions and is largely trouble-free. Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica 11 is similar, though it is said to have smaller flowers of pale blue rather than white; there is also a fine pure white selection.

A dazzling success in my front garden is Scilla peruviana. I rescued a shrivelled bulb from a ‘bargain bucket’ in a garden centre and planted it carelessly, not expecting much. The first year it sent up a few strappy leaves but, in year two, the first blooms appeared. Violet buds open to sapphire-blue starry flowers with golden stamens, held in large round, pyramid-shaped flowerheads, rather like an Allium. As flowering continues the head expands to 20cm across: a most spectacular sight. Now, several years later, my bulb has multiplied and I have a clump of about eight individuals, flowering each April. I grow them with wispy grass Stipa tenuissima to help hide the fading foliage. For a smaller space, try Scilla reverchonii 17, with its pretty clusters of starry blue flowers.

This is but a hint of the wealth of bulbous spring flowers in cultivation; many more are worthy of comment, but with such variety it is time gardeners widened their repertoire for ever-more varied springtime effects.

Bulbs and conservation

While most bulbous plants (all named selections and many species) are propagated in cultivation, some are still being collected from the wild. Some plants, including many Cyclamen, various Galanthus and Anemone, are frequently dug up from wild populations.

The RHS is concerned that international trade in plants should not damage wild populations, and supports legislation designed to protect wild plants and their habitats. The RHS does not permit the exhibition or sale of illegally-dug wild corms or bulbs at its shows or garden centres, and encourages gardeners to purchase plants and seed of declared origin.

Commercially-grown bulbs tend to be large, smooth and of uniform size, while wild bulbs are often more uneven.

Phil Clayton is Features Development Editor for The Garden

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