33 narcissus ‘Tresamble’ planted here. The day lily leaves will be gone by spring

Moved the thyme which was rather shaded by the tetrapanax to a pot (with tulip bulbs underneath) and planted 20 narcissus ‘Carlton’ in the space left. I can’t remember exactly how the tetrapanax behaved last winter, but surely it’ll lose its leaves for the narcissi to flourish next spring.

22 Dec 17

Many of the leaf bearing stalks have fallen off cleanly from where they joined the stem.

10 narcissus ‘Dutch Master’. Should I prune the spiraea or the hop? This fence is rather bare in winter.

The hibiscus didn’t flower at all again this year. If it doesn’t perform next year I’ll replace it with something else.

Meanwhile I planted 10 narcissus ‘Dutch Master’ in the space behind, and 20 narcissus ‘Curlew’ in front.

I’ll leave these for another few months to see if they come again. Also the three pots of tulips planted under Armeria, Ajuga and Arabis.

I’ll also plant some tulips in plastic pots in November or December for burying in the gravel.

This spring I found some bulbs sprouting in small pots in a B&Q garden centre. The Tête-à-tête miniature narcissi were good, the Iris reticulata less so. I’ll continue to plant most of my bulbs dry in late autumn or early winter, but the sprouting pots are useful gap fillers.

Conventional planting:

Sprouting pots:

30 Mch 18

These tête-à-tête are superb. Better than those I planted traditionally. The iris reticulata have all disappeared, however.

Mixture of some from the original garden, some planted last year in the usual way, and some as sprouting bulbs from B&Q. The latter were quite successful as Tête à tête, less so as Iris reticulata. Some of the tulips, even some of the narcissi, were still good in early May.