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Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Autumn
Height and spread: 12.5cm × 10cm (5in × 4in)
Companion plants: Not a showy plant, except when grown in bold drifts, preferably in short grass, or among autumn flowering cyclamen such as C. hederifolium or C. cilicium. See also Crocuses (#ulink_58811ea5-9d9d-5e65-b66a-f15d4ee443a9).
Cyclamen hederifolium
Sowbread Hardy tuberous perennial
Loaf-like tubers lie just beneath the surface of the ground. From them come masses of pink or white flowers, each with five petals swept right back to give the typical cyclamen shape. Some races are sweetly scented. From late autumn the flowers are joined by decoratively marbled leaves which persist through winter until the end of spring.
Soil preference: Any, but not wet
Aspect: Any
Season of interest: Autumn, winter, spring
Height and spread: 15cm × 30cm (6in × 1ft)
Companion plants: An essential part of any wild or woodland garden, going well both with autumn colchicums and with spring primroses and other bulbs. The leaves are lovely with Anemone blanda popping up among them.
Leucojum autumnale
Autumn Snowflake Hardy bulb
Thin, dusky green foliage emerges in winter, looking like dusty grass. In early autumn, the tiny, fragrant, pinktinged-white, nodding flowers are hard to see as individuals but are beautiful when grown in drifts. A native of Spain and North West Africa.
Soil preference: Dry
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Autumn
Height and spread: 15cm × 10cm (6in × 4in)
Companion plants: Not spectacular, but charming if colonies are allowed to bulk up among such rock garden plants as alpine pinks, auriculas and Lithodora.
Nerine bowdenii
Guernsey Lily, Spider Lily Hardy bulb
A South African native which produces stems carrying umbels of brilliant pink flowers, whose petals are curled outwards and crisped or crinkled at their edges. The leaves follow in late winter and spring. Bulbs flower best when congested and when warmed by hot summer sun.
Soil preference: Any well-drained
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Autumn
Height and spread: 60cm × 15cm (2ft × 6in), spreading
Companion plants: An outstanding cut bloom. The candy pink contrasts sweetly with the soft violet blues of perennial asters or with the reds and rusts of spray chrysanthemums and autumn foliage.
Focus on…
Lilies
A group of hardy bulbs of diverse habit, lilies are superb for producing elegant, showy flowers throughout summer and and sometimes into early autumn. Many also have fragrant blooms for added appeal.
1. Lilium lancifolium
The tiger lily, whose tiger-orange petals are strongly spotted, rather than striped. The stems produce axilliary buds which develop into bulbils, tiny bulbs from which the plant is easily propagated. Lime tolerant.
2. Lilium regale ‘Album’
A pure white form of the regal lily, whose richly fragrant, elongated flowers are more usually flushed pink on the outsides of their petals, but with creamy white interiors.
3. Lilium henryi
Probably the most lime-tolerant of all the lilies, with tall, flexible stems, dark in hue, and narrow, glossy leaves. The flowers, which open late in summer, are bright orange, with raised, dark spots on the petal surfaces. The petals curl back as the flowers mature.
4. Lilium martagon
The Turk’s Cap lily, a European native with tall stems whose leaves are attached in whorls on a tall, self-supporting stem which carries generous numbers of purplish pink or white flowers. The petals turn back on themselves to resemble turbans. Lime tolerant.
5. Lilium longiflorum
A vigorous, fast growing lily with the stem-rooting habit. The flower stems carry up to six intensely fragrant, pure white flowers. This variety, ‘American White’, has green tips to its petals and there is a blush pink variety, ‘Casa Rosa’.
6. Lilium ‘Golden Splendor Group’
A vigorous strain of lilies suitable for outdoors with sprays of large, elongated, bright yellow blooms, whose petal backs are pinkish, in mid to late summer. Lime tolerant.
7. Lilium ‘African Queen’
A very tall, trumpet-flowered hybrid lily whose large, showy blooms are brownish purple in bud, opening to a rich egg-yolk hue, between orange and yellow. Protection from severe frost is necessary.
Bulbs for containers
Narcissus (dwarf hybrids)
Bulb
Familiar narcissus and daffodil shapes, but on smaller scale plants. Good varieties include buttercup yellow, small flowered ‘Tête à Tête’, the lemon and white ‘Jack Snipe’, whose outer petals are swept back, and the intriguing ‘Queen Anne’s Double’, whose flowers are almost like small yellow roses. Later varieties include the highly scented jonquil ‘Trevithian’ and ‘Hawera’, whose tiny cups are accentuated by fully reflexed petals.
Soil preference: Any, not too dry
Aspect: Sun or part shade
Season of interest: Spring
Height and spread: Up to 25cm × 10cm (10in × 4in)
Companion plants: Naturals with almost any small, spring-flowering planting scheme, these narcissi will spice up forget-me-nots, primroses, winter heathers or such big foliage plants as Bergenia.
Eucomis bicolor
Pineapple Lily Marginally hardy bulb
Undulating dark green leaves surmount a single, thick, cylindrical stem carrying masses of tightly packed flowers in a broad spike. A topknot of foliage, above the greenish, dark-edged flowers, gives the impression of a pineapple. A handsome display of ripening seed capsules follows.
Soil preference: Moist, humus-rich
Aspect: Sun or part shade
Season of interest: Summer, autumn
Height and spread: 60cm × 45cm (2ft × 1ft 6in)
Companion plants: A streamside plant in its native South Africa, but excellent in containers for summer gardens. Mix with potted cannas and bananas to enhance the tropical feel and create a striking patio display.
Leucocoryne purpurea
Glory of the Sun Tender bulb
T. Cooper
A species from South America with grassy foliage and spikes bearing six-petalled flowers, which are mottled purple with paler centres. Under-used in northern gardens, this plant is, however, a genus of great beauty. Leucocoryne ixioides has brilliant blue flowers with white petal bases.
Soil preference: Free-draining
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Spring, early summer
Height and spread: 45cm × 15cm (1ft 6in × 6in)
Companion plants: Though tender, these will over-winter with minimal protection and are beautiful near the silvery foliage of, say, Convolvulus cneorum or Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ in a large container.
Lilium hybrids
Hardy bulbs
Highly variable group, always with narrow leaves along the stems which bear sprays of large, often highly scented flowers. These may be funnel shaped or may open to form big, six-pointed star shapes, or can curl back on themselves to resemble turbans. Examples include ‘Casablanca’, tiger lily (L. lancifolium) hybrids and ‘Trumpet’ lilies.
Soil preference: Fertile but free-draining. Some dislike lime
Aspect: Sun or part shade
Season of interest: Summer, autumn
Height and spread: To 1.5m × 75cm (5ft × 2ft 6in)
Companion plants: Virtually all lilies are excellent container plants and are best grown alone, but with their pots arranged with other, large plants. A pot of lilies placed close to a containerized dwarf maple such as Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum’, for example, will create an Oriental effect.
Gladiolus callianthus
Acidanthera Near hardy, corm-bearing perennial
Sword-like leaves arranged in a fan shape are joined in late summer by tall flower spikes bearing fragrant white blooms, whose centres are boldly marked with dark crimson or purple. Each flower hangs on a short, but elegantly curved stalk. Previously known as Acidanthera.
Soil preference: Any free-draining
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Late summer, early autumn
Height and spread: 120cm × 30cm (4ft × 1ft)
Companion plants: A great mixer, beautiful in pots among Eucomis, lilies or with containerized bedding such as tuberous begonias, hot-coloured dahlias or fuchsias.
Agapanthus africanus
Tender bulb
These evergreen agapanthus – superb for containers – are more tender than deciduous kinds and need winter protection. Bold, strap-shaped leaves and massive stems bear generous umbels of blue, or in ‘Alba’, white flowers. ‘Sapphire’ is dark blue; ‘Glen Avon’, lilac blue and the impressive ‘Purple Cloud’, deep purple-blue.
Soil preference: Free-draining
Aspect: Sun
Season of interest: Summer
Height and spread: Up to 1.5m × 1m (5ft × 3ft 3in)
Companion plants: Beautiful as solo performers, but also effective with mixed containers of architectural foliage plants. A cool effect is achieved with the silver foliage of artemisias, Helichrysum petiolare or Felicia amelloides.
Bulbs for growing in grass
Crocus tommasinianus
Hardy corm-bearing perennial
Tiny crocuses which appear at winter’s end. The outer petals are soft greyish lilac but when the flowers open to the sun, their interiors are bright mauve. Though free seeding, they also spread by underground stolons. Improved forms include ‘Whitewell Purple’ whose flowers are dark purple.
Soil preference: Any, not too wet
