Joseph Atkin's latest Evening Post gardening column

The latest South Wales Evening Post gardening column by Aberglasney Head Gardener Joseph Atkin - 

As we continue to enjoy this mild weather we are greeted with a succession of treats in the form of spring flowering bulbs and shrubs.

The bees are out and there is even the odd glimpse of sun shine.

While we are wondering if it’s safe to mow the grass especially as it’s romping away with this warm wet weather special attention should be paid to one spring flowering plant in particular.
Crocus fills the gap between Daffodils and snowdrops really well. They also come in a fantastic colour range that contrast well with snowdrops and the supposedly later Daffodils.
Before the Daffodils steal the show at Aberglasney the new plantings of Crocus are really looking good. Not only are they very easy to grow and relatively cheap to buy but they have a multitude of uses in the garden. On top of these different uses they also come in superb variety and have spring and autumn flowering types which are equally good.

Although the different uses of Crocus are probably their biggest asset, they can be grown in borders, tubs, rock gardens, under trees or even in grass.
Personally using them in grass is the most effective way to grow them as they add something different to a lawn without causing any problems with the mowing.

Crocus have a really good advantage over other bulbs in that they have a short growing season and flower very early. This means the grass is growing slowly and you don’t have to wait too long for the tops to die down. A short gap in mowing allows you to get the lawn back to its best quickly and there is no waiting around for tatty old leaves to die down.

Growing Crocus in lawns works especially well under trees as the grass grows even slower. This also allows you to have at least two seasons of interest one for the Crocus and another for the tree.
They also do really well in rock gardens and small borders as they are over early in the season allowing something else to take their place.

For years they have been used in tubs as late winter interest. The great thing about them is their reliability in all but the coldest of winters and even then they just flower later on. Another very important quality of Crocus is that bees and other pollinators love them especially at this early stage in the season when flowers are generally in short supply.
The trick to growing Crocus in grass is to give them a sunny spot and resist mowing until they have died back and seeded. A high cut for the first few mows will also avoid collecting up the seed which will be future generations of flower.
So what varieties are good in the garden? Crocus tomasinianus ‘Barrs Purple’ is doing really well at Aberglasney there are two drifts with a total of five thousand bulbs in them that are looking excellent at the moment. They are lavender purple and really stand out against grass especially in the late afternoon with low sunlight on them. A more striking variety that looks good in the rock garden is Crocus ‘Ruby Giant’ which is reddish purple and taller. This variety looks really good next to early flowering Narcissus or Cyclamen. Crocus flavus is a wild Crocus that is bright yellow with very slender petals that looks great even when there is no sunshine. There is a huge choice available and they are relatively cheap so the display can be added to in the future to keep it looking good.

If you are growing wild types it is often a good idea to add some seed grown bulbs as these will help them naturalise as they should set seed a little better. However with good management and right spot they should naturalise really well creating a fantastic display to brighten up winter’s last stand.
Tips for the Week
• Weeding they are out in force really early
• Plant up Dahlia and keep them in a glass house (don’t soak them after potting this can increase the chances of rot)
• Cut back evergreen ground cover like Epimedium to allow young foliage to get going and show off flowers
• Sow early vegetables
• Hellebores can have their old leaves cut back to show off flowers
• Force Rhubarb
• Take hard wood cuttings (its often worth trying something different plants can be very surprising)

Photos:

From top:

Crocus 'Ruby Giant'

Crocus 'Ruby Giant'

Crocus flavus

Crocus tomasinianus 'Barrs Purple'