Autumn is the time to think about spring! Yes, you may be enjoying the golden colours and scarlet leaves in your garden. We are too. The sycamore 🍂🍁leaves are particularly beautiful.
However, it’s time to think about spring. Here in Scotland 🏴 it can’t come soon enough after a deep dark winter ❄️- we need spring flowers to provide vital early pollen sources for the bees in our apiary. We also need them for our own mental health. They provide hope after the winter. So these are our top six early flowering bulbs which you should be planting in the autumn 🍂 for spring flowers 🌸
Snowdrops - Galanthus (from Ancient Greek γάλα, (gála, "milk") + ἄνθος (ánthos, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a single small white drooping bell-shaped flower with six petal-like (petaloid) tepals in two circles (whorls). The smaller inner petals have green markings. Planting should start from August and continue to through the Autumn. If, like us, you need that lift and the promise of spring then these are the bulbs for you.
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Crocus - astonishingly brave vibrant yellow and purple flowers which are irreverent to the cold. They jut up through ice or snow and defy the season to provide critical early food for pollinators and solace for the winter weary soul. Check out our botanical mix of purple, white, yellow and variegated varieties. Shop for crocuses here.
Bluebells - magical flowers. Who doesn’t get a huge wave of nostalgia thinking about childhood moments in glades of bluebells with the dappled light streaming through the fresh green spring leaves above. Naturalising and so will spread to fill a space. Bluebells are the flowers of fairytales.
Allium - beautiful tight pom-poms of vivid green blending to ecumenical purple on top. From these beautiful white pearl bulbs come a favourite of ours and the autumn is the time to get planting for earlier blooms. Drumstick Alliums are a classic and provide great structure to our beds and a huge attraction with many different kind of bees 🐝 Shop for Alliums here.
Dutch Iris - having spent time living and working in Holland in the horticulture sector, Rikki has a soft spot for Dutch Iris’. We love long steamed varieties which throw up javelin like green shoot and then a crisp flower which unfolds and transmits. This year we’re stocking some extra special EXTRA LARGE bulbs. Check out our mixed Dutch Iris’. Shop for Iris’ here.
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