There is so much happiness in a pot full of golden daffodils sitting by your front door or a container with hyacinths sitting on the dining room table perfuming the air and giving colour to the room. I love growing bulbs in pots. It’s also very handy as you can move them around for strategic views from kitchen window once they start blooming.
What to Consider when growing bulbs in pots?
Drainage – always important, you definitely don’t want a pot where there is no free drainage. Soggy bulbs end up being dead bulbs
- Drainage can be broken clay pots, clean gravel/pebbles, chunks of polystyrene (good as it lightens the pot) or some old timers use mixtures of charcoal, peat and shell.
- Plant in Autumn or Spring. Here’s something to think about, if the bulb is from a warm climate eg. paperwhites, then you wont need to chill the bulbs. If you are looking at Dutch irus, crocus daffodils and hyacinths then you need a cooling period. The bulb needs to feel that cold temperature for a sustained period of time and this triggers the biochemical response that tells the bulb it needs to start thinking about developing into the future flower. The best period is around 16-18 weeks but check the packet.
- Depth to plant – depends on what you are planting
- keep damp not wet
- Once the flowering is over plant the bulbs out in the garden
