Our new raised bulb bed

[Paul Cumbleton]

Hi Stefan,
We planted the bulbs freely - we don't really mind if they mix over time. Yes, we will put other things in to flower when the bulbs are dormant to help reduce summer moisture. Any suggestions for suitable plants would be welcome.

Paul

[Michael J Campbell]

Paul, I find that Moraea aristata does quite well outside here  in a 12cm high raised scree bed, survived -5c two years ago and still going strong.  Moraea lurida is becoming a weed with seed germinating everywhere.

[Paul Cumbleton]

Michael, that's useful information, thanks very much.

Paul

[colin e]

Paul has listed the South African bulbs that have been planted. The Fritillaria that have gone in so far are:-
Fritillaria pallidiflora, Fritillaria persica, Fritillaria pontica, Fritillaria raddeana, Fritillaria walujewii, Fritillaria imperialis type ‘Early Passion’ all flowering size.
Fritillaria affinis dwarf form, Fritillaria davisii, Fritillaria davisii x graeca, Fritillaria eastwoodiae, Fritillaria pudica, Fritillaria recurva are small bulbs.
Not as many Fritillaria have gone in as I wanted but that is down to me repotting early. The up side of this is I will know more about the bed and mix for next year.  We have also put a selection of other spare bulbs we had and most of these are flowering size.
Acis rosea,  Chionodoxa forbesii, Chionodoxa luciliae album Chionodoxa luciliae (true sp.), Chionodoxa sardesis, Colchicum agrippinum, Corydalis solida subsp. solida 'Beth Evans', Crocus aff vernus very early, Galanthus peshmenii, Galanthus reginae-olgae,  Iris ‘Eyecatcher’, Iris ‘ Mars landing’, Leucocoryne vittata, Narcissua asturiensis,  Narcissua dubius, Scilla hughii, Tecophilaea cyanocrocus var. leichtlinii’, Tecophilaea cyanocrocus ‘Stormcloud Group’, Tecophilaea cyanocrocus var. violacea,
To add to Pauls’ comment about planting them ‘free’, we still have most in a pot as well.
All that remains to be planted for this year are the ordered bulbs that are yet to be delivered. Once they arrive and are planted we’ll list those here too.

Colin

[Rimmer de Vries]

Is that gravel mulch over the Strumaria karooica a crushed limestone or a crystalline rock?

[Paul Cumbleton]

Hi Rimmer,
The gravel topdressing is 10mm black basalt. We chose this because it matches the gravel pathways and also the colour of the nearby crevice garden. It is actually grey when dry and black when wet - either colour being a good foil for flowers.

Paul

[colin e]

Still waiting for some of the ordered bulbs to turn up, but plants do not wait for anyone! So we do have some things in flower but mainly leaf growth (and labels, see picture). Because of this we have given the bed its first fertilizing of Vitax Q4 powder at 140g per square meter. This is due to there being no nutrients for the plants in the mix.
We have added the following to the bed:-
Allium karataviense ‘Ivory Queen’, Chionodoxa sardesis dark blue form, Crocus Ard Schenk, Crocus biflorus Weldenii Albus, Crocus speciosus ‘Conqueror’,  Crocus ‘Orange Monarch’, Crocus pulchellus, Crocus serotinus subsp salzmannii, Crocus speciosus ‘Albus’, Fritillaria imperialis ‘Aurora’, Fritillaria imperialis ‘Rubra’, Fritillaria michailovskyi, Fritillaria persica ‘Ivory Bells’, Leucojum vernum, Muscari armeniacum 'Gül',  Muscari macrocarpum, Iris reticulata ‘Sea Breeze’
We now have to hope the last few bits turn up soon.

Colin