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I can’t decide if it’s just a matter of association, but I love the look of bulbs.  I’m not talking about the flowers (though I love those too), I’m talking about the bulbs themselves.  I lo ...

This time last year we had a great long discussion (possibly the longest in the history of The Gardenist) about companion planting for colchicums (check it out here).  The point was that they can loo ...

It’s a big moment for me:  the moment of the flowering of Tulipa batalinii. I guess it could be any species tulip really – they all thrill me – though this one does have something of a story fo ...

OK, enough of the frivolity.  This is serious.  This is practical. Check out this pic.  It compares three pots of the Lilium formosanum I wrote about last week.  They were all sown at the same tim ...

I’m in a kind of melt over Lilium formosanum.  I’ve known it for 30 years, from gardening around it at Ripponlea, but have never (inexpicably) grown it myself until now. It is a truly remarkable ...

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I loved being at the talk Mat Murray (RBG Sydney) gave to the Victorian Group of The Alpine Garden Society a few weeks back.  Not only did I pick up on the debunking of a few myths (like the need to ...

I’ve got to test this out.  How universal is the thrill of bulbs at this phase? This eruption through the earth’s crust is the perfect physical representation of the rumblings of joy that emergin ...

I’m in search of the perfect companion for my colchicums.  They’ve been in flower since the last week of Feb and are looking distinctly lonely (image above). The trouble is, they flower without a ...

As forecast, the astonishing Hill View Rare Plants catalogue arrived in the post just days after my last bulb entry.  Oh my Lordy. ...

One of the truly great, anticipation-charged moments in the garden year looms.  The first of the bulb catalogues has appeared.  What’s on offer are brown, flaky, often ugly or even grotesque littl ...