Summer bulbs

Summer-flowering bulbs have such a great deal to offer in terms of colour, shape and drama. They should be planted as habitually as tulips, says Tamsin Hope Thompson

-  Tamsin Hope Thompson

BULBS are one of the easiest ways to get added seasonal colour into the garden. They’re low maintenance, inexpensive and don’t take any time to get into pots or borders. Autumn planted, spring-flowering bulbs get all the glory. But summer-flowering bulbs are just as easy and provide just as big an impact. We should be planting summer-flowering bulbs as habitually as tulips.

Add height and grandeur

There is a huge range of bulbs that you can plant in spring. The best thing about summer bulbs is the impact they offer for a quick gardening job – from a ten-minute planting you’ll be able to enjoy a container of scented lilies or spend half an hour planting up your border to give it a colour boost from July. Choose from fiery crocosmias in vivid orange, red or yellows; the huge spectrum of colours and flower shapes from dahlias and the regal height of foxtail lilies, which will tower above the rest of your planting, adding height and grandeur to your displays.

Not just bulbs...

When catalogues talk about summer-flowering bulbs, this means a group of bulbous plants including plants that flower from rhizomes (like cannas), tubers (like dahlias) and bulbs like lilies. Check individual planting needs on the packet as some hardy bulbs can be planted now, such as lilies, while other tender varieties are best planted indoors now, then planted out when the soil warms up, like dahlias and cannas. There are also bulbs like alliums, which flower between spring and summer, which should be planted in the autumn.