Planting bulbs for summer

The variety is huge and colour is guaranteed, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

I’M like a child in a sweet shop at this time of year when garden centres fill up with all the promise and colours of summer plants.

Bulbs are one of the easiest ways of bringing colour into the garden between late spring and autumn and they are some of the brightest and best plants available for us to grow.

Alstroemeria, agapanthus, begonias, ranunculus, dahlias, echinaceas, gladioli and lilies – so many wonderful plants in every colour imaginable.

We already have lots of alliums, crocosmia and gladioli in our borders as well as several begonias, dahlias and a canna lily potted up in the greenhouse and on windowsills, already starting to shoot with this year’s growth.