Bulbs to continue a show into summer
Q I have a patch of grass in which daffodils, snowdrops and muscari are naturalised. What could I plant to follow on from them in the summer?
Helen Cant (via email)
A What a lovely spectacle that area of lawn must be! For the best results year after year, deadhead the plants after they have flowered and let their leaves die back naturally.
Keep the foliage watered regularly and fed fortnightly as it withers away, and this will help feed the bulbs for the following year’s spring display.
As for bulbs to continue the show into summer, I suggest that you consider the following, which will bloom among ever taller grasses:
■ Triteleia laxa: Clusters of pale-blue trumpets from June to July.
■ Quamash (camassia) in variety: Spires of starry blue or white flowers in May and June.
■ Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale and C. speciosum): Mauve, pink, violet and white wine-glass-shaped blooms from August to October.
■ Cyclamen hederifolium: White, pink or red flowers that bloom from September to November.
■ Lilium martagon: Puce or white Turk’s cap blooms, flowers June to July.
■ Tulbaghia violacea: A form of garlic, heads of tubular pink flowers appear from July to August.
How can I save my ailing plant?
Can you tell
