Bridges, bulbs and berries

I am writing this on the 4th of November and the garden is only now turning autumnal. A lot of the leaves are still green and clinging to the trees and hedges, dahlias, tithonias and cosmos are still in flower, alongside our Callicarpa which is covered in metallic purple bead-like berries and although it has been wet – it has been very mild.

But the clocks have gone back and so we gradually put the garden to bed. Tender plants are protected and put into the greenhouse, garden furniture brought in, leafy perennials cut back and soon the Red Poll cattle will be back in their winter quarters back at the farm.

But there is still lots going on. We now have a bridge that we can walk across! The builders have finished the brick archways and have started to dig (no mean feat) either side of the new bridge allowing the moat to flow underneath. Then four brick pillars and low side walls will be built and it will be finished. Exciting!

Now is the perfect time to plant tulips and at Columbine plant them we do – in their thousands. This year we have 9,250 to plant. I always plant tulip bulbs in November and into December. You can plant tulips as late as January but November is the ideal month. They will only start to put roots down now and the cold temperatures help to wipe out viral and fungal diseases that lurk in the soil which will infect the bulbs. Planting late is a traditional means of disease protection particularly against tulip fire disease. This ruins your tulip display producing brown spots and withered and distorted leaves. It is so named because plants appear scorched by fire. Any affected plants should be lifted and burnt and no tulips should be planted in the same spot for at least three years.

We grow them wonderfully well in our borders, in long grass and in pots. Planting them in a sunny spot produces the best results – they don’t appreciate being cast into the shade of walls, fences or hedges. They also like a well-drained soil, so if you have heavy clay mix in some gravel or grit when planting.

Tulips are the stars of the spring garden, with their vibrant and elegant forms, they bring the garden alive after its winter rest. I urge you to go plant some now and lose yourself in the majesty of the tulip.