Ask the Experts: The Best Bulbs to Naturalize in Spring

The new book A Year in Bloom has a great premise: Ask some of the world’s top garden people to talk about their favorite bulbs, thus solving one of gardeners’ biggest dilemmas—which of the many, many bulbs out there to plant. And the beautifully packaged results come as a relief, as the trend is mainly toward less artifice and less effort when it comes to bulbs.

Written and compiled by Lucy Bellamy (former editor of Gardens Illustrated) and photographed by Jason Ingram (the best in the business), the book’s contributors offer insights that make for a fun read. Not all of their comments made it into the book—and we have some of them here. Let’s take a look.

Photography by Jason Ingram.

Daffodils that look like they might have been shown at the RHS exhibition halls in Westminster 100 years ago are the ones with the right look, and yellow is not to be shied away from. Of Narcissus ‘Bath’s Flame’ (above left), Lucy writes, “Over recent years there has been a trend for more delicate forms of narcissus that sit easily in semi-wild plantings, and ‘Bath’s Flame’ is at once just wild and just cultivated enough.”

Narcissus ‘White Lady’ was chosen by admired Irish plantsman Jimi Blake, who told Lucy: “This variety was originally grown as a cut flower back in 1898. It’s pure elegance on a stem, with its pristine white petals and soft yellow cup with a delicious scent. I grow this in a border with other simple narcissus such as ‘Polar Ice’, ‘Thalia’ and ‘Segovia’. The other nominee for N. ‘White Lady’ was your own Gardenista correspondent—me. They were in the old-fashioned cottage garden of my elderly next door neighbor, and they began to drift into mine, with some help.

Lucy points out that bulbs that are good for naturalizing also look quite “natural.” Crocus are small, and they shine in the low-key surroundings of dried leaves, and under the bare limbs of shrubs and trees. There is no need to bundle up the leaves of daffodils after flowering, or tie them into neat knots; the simpler forms tend to have more demure foliage, which disappears into lengthening grass as the season progresses. It’s best to leave them alone anyway, so that seeds can disperse, and bulbs can spread underground. When they appear year on year, they are “emulating the patterns they make in nature.”

The hooped petticoat-shape of Narcissuc bulbocodium is the same yellow hue as other spring flowers, including daffodils, but its character is altogether different. Described by California landscape designer Ron Lutsko as “steadfast and cheerful,” it benefits from being away from the throng. “It is best grown in pots as a single-species group, to give the opportunity of closely observing the flowers.”

Delightfully named Narcissus pseudonarcissus is the diminutive wild daffodil of the Wye Valley and Welsh Borders, and it’s also the “go-to choice” for Sissinghurst’s head gardener, Troy Scott Smith. James Basson, garden designer and a Chelsea Flower Show star who is based in the French Alpes-Maritimes, says: “These daffodils revel in the stone cracks of karst landscapes [featuring eroded limestone], and they push through the snow to shout out in bright yellow.” This was the second most nominated bulb.

“Tommies” (Crocus tommasinianus) give lawns a good name: They spread prodigiously and are one of the earliest bulbs, unbothered by snow and heavy frost. Hugo Bugg, of design practice Harris Bugg, commented to Lucy that they are “a sign of spring on the horizon, and they look fantastic naturalized with winter aconite.” The erythronium is admired by Jimi Blake in the book: “Erythronium ‘Joanna’ stands out for its delightfully recurved petals and mutable color.”

The most nominated bulb in the book? Tulipa sylvestris, the yellowest and subtlest of early tulips. But it’s also very spirited: Anna Pavord is quoted memorably in the book’s introduction, describing it as “wild as the wolf.” Matt Collins, writer and head gardener at the Garden Museum, told Lucy: “Species tulips never went out of fashion, though they have certainly seen a resurgence in recent years. Among those favored is the wonderfully delicate European native, Tulipa sylvestris, with its gently curved, slender stems and bold yellow flowers.”

Tomato soup-red Tulipa sprengeri has had a passionate following for almost a decade; partly due to designer Cleve West and his knack of elevating certain plants that have been unaccountably overlooked. He, in turn, gives credit to the specialist growers, Marchant’s: “Chris and Toby Marchant brought some Tulipa sprengeri to add a bit of extra sparkle to a Chelsea show garden in 2006. They were a real hit and made the front page of the London Times. I’ve been spreading the love ever since by collecting the seed and sharing them with clients, for naturalizing in wilder parts of their gardens. Like other species tulips, T. sprengeri sets quite a high benchmark.” It was also nominated by Fergus Garrett of Great Dixter, who adds that it flowers late “and the spent flowers are followed by highly decorative seed heads. It will seed itself around if it likes you.”

See also:

• Organic Bulbs? They’re Surprisingly Hard To Find
• How to Grow Tulips That Come Back Year After Year, With Polly Nicholson
• Your First Garden: What You Need to Know Before You Plant Bulbs