Summer bulbs ready to shine

FIND THE RIGHT FLOWERS TO SUIT YOUR SPACE AND WAIT FOR THE RIOT OF COLOUR ON ITS WAY

- DIARMUID GAVIN

SUMMER bulbs are a wonderful way of injecting colour and beauty into your garden.

You'll see them on sale now, and hardy bulbs like lilies and crocosmia can be planted straight away into pots or the ground.

Many of the rest, such as begonias and dahlias, can only be planted outdoors once frost has passed, otherwise they will perish.

However these tender bulbs can be started off indoors now on a sunny windowsill or porch. By the time May or early June arrives, they will be ready to adorn your hanging baskets, containers and borders.

As a rule of thumb, summer bulbs like to be planted in full sunshine in well-drained soil. Plant them three times their size in depth, and if you have heavy, claggy soil that hasn't worked well for bulbs in the past, consider growing in pots instead. Use a general compost with added grit for freer drainage. Agapanthus in particular likes to be grown in pots with its roots fairly restricted.