Gardening
is like regenerating Burngreave,
it’s not too late to start.
By Rob Bullock
About
this time last year I bought a large sack of mixed daffodil
bulbs, end of season, reduced to clear. Discarding the few
which had rotted, I planted the rest in a long row parallel
to the hedge on the allotment. The daffs were late to emerge
and flower but I had an assortment of blooms to cut and take
home from mid-March to mid May and hope they will provide
the same for me for years.
Daffodil
bulbs are best planted in August or early September,
to allow for good root development, but the bulbs come with
all the energy they need to flower next spring so are almost
bound to reward you at least once. On the plot I planted mine
about two or three times their own depth in a foot wide
trench with manure dug in and I’ll try to remember to
feed them with a top dressing of organic fertilizer each spring
when their leaves appear.
Most years,
usually late, I buy a few daffodil or tulip bulbs to plant
in pots for the back yard. Sown in ordinary garden soil with
a little added fertilizer in nine to ten inch pots. I pack
them in to give the brightest display, then, when they’ve
finished flowering, I find a spot in the garden to plant them
out to see if they’ll come again.
Over the
years I’ve built up quite a collection this way, it’ll
soon be time to start searching for signs of life, signs of
spring.
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