Five-star plant selection

This is the sixth of a 10-part series by Percy Thrower, who reveals his ‘best buys’ originally published in Amateur Gardening in 1973. In this art Percy concludes his look at bulbs. The following articles in the series will focus on herbaceous plants and alpines.

137 years of practical advice 1884 The World’s Oldest Gardening Magazine 2021

Part 6: Bulbs

PLANTS with bulbs, corms, tubers or other means of storing large reserves of food and moisture have developed this capacity to enable them to survive considerable periods without active growth. This can be a useful quality in the garden, for it means that while the bulbous-rooted plants are resting, other plants can take their place without undue competition between them.

For example, spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils, tulips and