Finally, on the last of November, the final bulbs have been put in the ground. Lucky that because in December there will be too many other things to do, so today was my deadline. Thankfully it was a gorgeous sunny day, but freezing! And with the ground sodden from last weeks rain, planting was more hard work than usual. It really is quite tedious work – but totally worth it in spring.
There is a lot to be said for growing tulips in pots. I love the fact you can move them around to create different colour combinations, and planting them is SO much quicker and easier than putting them in the ground. This year I invested in a good bulb planter but still, making all those holes…it takes forever and if you have a lot of bulbs to do the novelty wears off quickly. With pots you just pop them in at the right depth and top up with compost. Easy and fun.
Once I had finished the pots and beds at the front of the garden, I had quite a lot of bulbs left over. These went into the vegetable beds we have right at the back. In my dreams this will look like the amazing flowers field of Milli Proust in spring but I suppose her back drop is a little bit more picturesque than mine so we will see. In any case, this was super easy to do – just make a trench, put the bulbs in and cover. This way you can do a few hundred in just an hour, compared to the super slow job of making individual holes in borders for each bulb. You can hear where I’m going with this – maybe one year I will decide to do all the bulbs in pots and raised beds simply because of the ease of it. Anyway, the tulips in the vegetable beds should be all done by the time the ground is warm enough for the first sowings so it should all work out well. I really like the idea of some bright blooms in this area at the beginning of the season.
Now that the bulb planting marathon is over, I am ready for the winter break. Very happy to put the garden to bed for the year, stay inside with my seed catalogues and inspiration books and dream about next year.
Hello Stina! I’m glad you have started a blog. I planted my bulbs 1 month ago, before it started raining non stop here in France 🙂 I also find it very tedious, and swore to myself I would do pots like you last year. But I decided to give it a go in the beds once again this year in the end. Now I just have to wait!
Hi Laureline,
Thank you so much for your comment, this really made my day! I have been thinking about doing this for ages but I wasn’t sure if anyone reads blogs anymore. Now, you already found your way here and even took the time to comment so i feel like it is already worth it! Good luck with your tulips, springtime seems like such long way away but before we know it they will be blooming.
Reading this just as the few tulips planted last year have come to flower, have you efforts reaped reward? Looking forward to seeing how the rows have worked out.
I really like the idea of a row or two of tulips in a raised bed in the potager. I think I will steal your idea, if there are any leftover tulips after planting the major gardens. Maybe I’ll plant a pot or two as well. Glad I stumbled onto your lovely blog.