How To Plant Bulbs, And Make Random Green Plants Look Pretty Good

So over the weekend it actually stopped raining for about five minutes, and I immediately raced outside to plant some of the spring and summer-flowering bulbs that I ordered from Floral Fireworks a couple of weeks ago.

I had decided that I was going to plant a few of the bulbs in large pots, so in preparation for this I had painted a few flower pots in a pale bluey-grey colour. I know you are probably supposed to use a special outdoor paint for this, but heck, indoor paint works just as well, and is a great way to use up all those cute little sample sizes. I’ll share some instructions on how I painted these flower pots in a future post.

So, I took my pots, and filled them with compost:

Yep, that's Enrique being his usual helpful self. He is a most Constant Gardener.

Next up, I took the Tulipa Spring Green bulbs, and a few small plants that I had picked up in the local garden centre for a few pounds – I chose hebes, some other plant that I can’t remember the name of, and a little thyme:

I arranged the bulbs round the edge of the pot, and used my special Bulb Planting Implement to make holes of a suitable depth:

I pushed the bulbs in, covered them in compost, and then planted one of the little plants in the top. All the plants I chose are evergreen, so that the pot will have a green plant in it all year round:

It occurred to me afterwards that an easier way of doing this would be to part-fill the pots with compost, drop in the bulbs, and then fill the rest of the pot (rather than filling completely, and then digging holes). Ah, hindsight.

I managed to do six pots before it started to pour with rain again, and I was forced to dash inside and install myself on the sofa with a magazine, a large bar of chocolate, and two sleepy Jack Russells, which is a far more rain-appropriate activity to my mind than standing outside in a thunderstorm covering myself in compost:

I like the way that by using some old flower pots, left-over paint, and some cheapo plants that I don't even know the name of, you can actually create quite an effective display. Now I just need to arrange them nicely around the garden - if only it would stop raining for long enough to accomplish this!

Back tomorrow with more Nest adventures – stay tuned!