Yesterday saw my first shopping expedition for next year. The Daisy! duo set off to Fentongollan Bulb Farm, near Truro, a regular haunt of ours around this time of year. This year I went with a plan! Having said that I had a plan last year but it was 'buy a few bulbs' which turns out not to be good enough, and most definitely expensive.
So this year I had a list:
• Daffodils for the shady bottom of the garden, which is my autumn project - a tree is being taken out and.. but that's another story. I wanted to get a range of daffodils, scented and flowering from Feb to May, so a bit of preparation was required. With the help of the Fentongollan bulb catalogue I chose:
Martinette - flowers in Feb Jack Snipe - flowers in Mar
Cheerfulness - Flowers in April Pipit - flowers in April/May
These are all Jonquil/Narcissus type Daffodils, with small flowers and more than one flower on each stem, which should mix well with the traditional Daffodils that are already established in shady bed.
•Alliums for my sunny border. I love Alliums and I put some in every year with varying degrees of success. So this year I kept it down to two types:
Allium Christophii Allium Roseum
I planted some Christophii about 6 years ago but they have dwindled over the years and this year I didn't have any. So time for some more in a slightly less dry spot I think. They are glorious and I can't have a Christophii free garden, even if they don't last. I planted some Allium Roseum last year and they did really well. They are much more delicate and less stagey than many Alliums and self seed apparently, which is always popular with me!
Now that was all they had on my list, the Nectaroscordum, white Camassia and Anemone Nemorosa weren't in yet (which means I'll have to go back again - oh dear, that's too bad!), but frankly I wasn't likely to leave with such a restrained haul, so...
Ixiolirion - tall and summer flowering Flaming Parrot Tulip - Flowers in May
Now I don't strictly have anywhere to put these, but I couldn't resist. The Ixiolirion are dark blue on tall slender stems and could go in to come up after the Aliums. The Tulips are exactly like some I saw on my trip to Florence in May so it seemed rude not to buy them. They will be in the hot pots at the back I think - nothing subtle about them!
So a successful trip, Fentongollan is a lovely place, and their Daffodils (grown on the farm) are second to none. They are open 7 days a week, 9am - 5pm and have an online/mail order arm, so wherever you are you can join in our bulb madness!
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