Page 15 - ALG Issue 3 2016

Feature on... Spring Bulbs
Cheer UpYour Plot with Spring Bulbs
Allotment plots in late winter and early spring can appear bleak, especially if the plot holder is not a fan of winter crops such as sprouts and broccoli. However, a few spring owering bulbs in pots or on part of your patch will add a
twice the depth of the bulb; anemone corms should be soaked for 24 hours beforehand. Remember not to cut off the foliage or tie it together once they have owered; the leaves will need time to feed
splash of colour and can lighten the heart on a gloomy day. Planting swathes of pollinator friendly bulbs such as snowdrops, wild garlic, English bluebells, grape hyacinth and ornithogalum or the beautiful, native snakes- head fritillary in wildlife areas or orchards
will also help to increase productivity and biodiversity. In that dif cult area under my soft fruit bushes I have planted yellow winter aconites and blue anemone blanda and look forward to the cheerful, ever increasing, daisy owers of the anemones each year.
Insects that are around in early spring struggle to nd enough nectar to survive and will make a bee-line to pots of crocus and other spring owers and bulbs
the bulb ready for next year’s display.
If productivity is key to your allotment activities,
there is just enough time left this year to plant the autumn owering saffron crocus, although you may have to wait until next year for owers. If you have ever bought saffron for a recipe like Cornish saffron cake, you will be aware that it is extremely expensive and well deserves its nickname of “red gold”. However, it is very easy to grow. The corms can be planted from June until mid-September. They do best in a sunny position with free draining neutral soil and large corms will ower in their rst year.
Bulbs can be short-lived, especially if you cut them or we have a very wet winter, but the bene ts they can bring to your plot in terms of encouraging
Insects that are around in early spring
struggle to nd enough nectar to survive and
will make a bee-line to pots of crocuses and other spring owers and bulbs. Sadly, daffodils provide very little in the way of food for insects but our wild daffodils are in danger of extinction through habitat destruction and hybridisation, so a few on your plot could help them along a little. Planting tulips, daffodils, anemones and ranunculus
will also give you a supply of cut owers before your marigolds, corn owers and dahlias have come in to bloom.
Spring bulbs, apart from tulips, ideally need to be planted in September but wait until mid-October to start planting tulips. Bulbs appreciate a site with good drainage and need to be planted at least
pollinating insects and visual impact are worth the effort. So while there may not be many edible crops to sow in September,
adding bulb planting to your jobs list
for the month will give you something to look forward to; those rst signs
of life above the soil in early spring always inspire me to get out and about on the plot again.
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