Floriferous Ideas: The Joy of Winter Narcissi Flowers.
...and the endless beauty of early spring bulbs planted indoors & outside throughout the winter.
I am an amateur gardener (and complete beginner!) and since moving into a home with a larger garden (yet to be redesigned) bulbs have provided me with so much happiness after inheriting (very lifeless and rather boring!) new garden.
This year I visited the Malvern Autumn Show. It was full of lovely eateries selling homemade cakes and delicious food. They had a giant vegetables (a highlight!) and lots of wonderful animals - A special mention for Liam and Noel the Water Buffalo and of course the extremely adorable Valais Blacknose Sheep. It was probably one of my favourite days out of 20241. Adorable animals aside, It was a great chance to purchase a variety of spring bulbs too!
Along with planting bulbs outdoors in the garden borders, window baskets and patio pots - for the last couple of years I have potted up some bulbs to grow indoors too.
Paperwhite Narcisi are my favourite variety for indoor growing and I tend to pot these up in a variety of containers around November time. By the time that the deepest, darkest Winter evenings begin to set in, the flowers will begin to bloom. Paperwhite Narcissi have a beautiful fresh, floral, powdery fragrance. The crisp, white blooms and long bright green stems look beautiful against the backdrop of twinkling Christmas lights.
Here are some of my favourite bulbs to grow indoors in Autumn/Winter:
Paperwhite Narcissus - elegant long stems with delicate, beautifully fragranced flowers
Minnow Narcissus - buttercup & sunshine yellow flowers guaranteed to bring endless cheer! (Writing this now all I can think of is Ron Weasleys unfortunate transfiguration spell…sunshine daisies, butter mellow…)
Other bulb varieties lovely to grow indoors are Iris reticulata, Snowdrops and Muscari. - I like to grow these recycled empty candle pots/ jam jars or vintage ceramic pots and bowls to bring a little extra charm.
I tend to purchase spring bulbs from Sarah Raven, Farmer Gracy, my local garden centre and hopefully I will return to the Malvern Autumn Show next year to stock up!
Sowing spring bulbs on a frosty November or December morning isn’t the most enjoyable, however the joy you will feel in spring when they all bloom will make this task seem completely worth it.
Gardening has a way of bringing you back to the present and I can often completely switch off my busy mind when I am gardening (and I find this very hard to do normally!) Planting out bulbs reminds me of the importance of effort, patience and reward.
Planting joy for my future self for the brighter days ahead.
I would love to hear about your favourite spring bulbs!
aside from the trip from Attingham Park Farm when the little piglets escaped and gave me all of the cuddles!