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Pink Spring Garden Bulbs to Help Raise Money for Breast Cancer Research

By Bob Willard, General Manager, de Jager Bulbs

22nd May 2009

Go pink in your garden next spring with de Jager and you could be raising money directly for Breast Cancer Campaign (visit www.breastcancercampaign.org to find out more about the charity). A range of 20 pink bulbs have been selected from the de Jager range, together with a specially branded box of bulbs costing £30.00, where 10% of the sale price of these especially selected bulbs will benefit Breast Cancer Campaign. To give you a preview of the pink de Jager collection, identified in the catalogue by a pink ribbon, here are some tantalising descriptions:

PINK PARASOL is a most charming large trumpet daffodil with a soft apricot-pink trumpet deepening toward the base and rounded perianth petals of soft creamy white. Grows to a height of 45cm, flowers March-April.

POLONAISE is a large cupped narcissi having a glistening white perianth with a raspberry cup fading to a dusty pink. Grows to a height of 37cm. An excellent naturaliser.

CLUSIANA PEPPERMINSTICK is a species tulip with eye-catching deep rosy red outer petals set off by sparkling white inner petals and a steel blue base. A lot of interest has been shown in this tulip as it is a new member of the Clusiana family. Grows to a height of 40cm, flowers mid-April.

PINK IMPRESSION is a fine hybrid tulip being a cross between Darwin and Fosteriana tulips. It is Empire rose on pale rose ground with a neyron-rose flame on a broad shrimp-red feathered edge. Grows to a height of 55cm, flowering April-May.

PINK DIAMOND is a most wonderful May flowering tulip having a colour of phlox-pink and slightly paler petal edges. Grows to a height of 50cm once in flower and is long lasting.

PREPARED CHRISTMAS HYACINTH ANN MARIE is specially prepared for early forcing. It is a selected quality for bowl and pot culture and will be despatched in early September once they are fully ready. Grows to a height of 26cm with a bulb size of 17/18cm. Full cultural instructions will be enclosed.

  Credit both images: de Jager Bulbs

Preparing the soil correctly is very important when planting your spring bulbs. Any type of soil is actually suitable so long as there is good drainage. With clay soils mix the top with sand, peat or compost to achieve aeration and drainage.

The colourful spring-flowering bulbs can be planted anywhere in your garden, in sun and shade, in borders and terraces, around fences and trees. Some bulbs, such as daffodils, are at there their best when scattered at random giving a natural look.

It really is best to plant bulbs as soon as you buy them. If you can’t, open the bags to allow air to get at them, place them in a cool, well-ventilated area where the temperature is about 60 degrees F.

As a general rule, you can plant spring flowering bulbs any time until frost hardens the ground. Daffodils should be among the first to be planted to get the best results. Other bulbs need not be planted until summer and autumn-flowering bedding plants have finished their display. In mild or warm areas, later planting is possible and can be delayed until December.

You can judge the quality of bulbs when you buy them. In the first place, bulb size is very important. As a rule, the largest bulbs will also provide the largest flowers in the spring. Remember that the flower is already stored in these bulbs. For tulips bulb size of 12cm plus (the circumference of the bulbs in centimetres) will give the best results. Daffodil bulbs have several shoots and usually give one flower per shoot.

For some small wild tulips, 6/7cm is a quite suitable bulb size as the wild tulip is the most original form. With hyacinths, a larger bulb will not only produce a bigger plant but also many florets on each raceme. Usual bulb sizes of hyacinths are 15cm and larger.

As to planting depth, a rule-of-thumb is to plant bulbs twice as deep as the bulb is high. If you want another easy rule to remember: plant the base of the bulbs, (the flat side) at a depth of 20cm for larger bulbs and 10cm for smaller bulbs such as anemone, scilla, muscari, snowdrop etc.

To find out more about the de Jager range visit www.dejager.co.uk or phone 01622 840229 for a catalogue.

 

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