Cheer up!

On a cold and rainy winter day nothing can cheer up our homes more than a bit of color. We have until mid-February for planting bulbs, so why not try to create a beautiful floral arrangement, it will give us pleasure with colors and scents.The bulbs do not fear the cold but the transformation of windows, balconies and terraces requires strict rules.

The choice of bulbs:

Under that rustic aspect of fragrant onions, bulbs hide spectacular blooms that occur already in winter. When purchasing the bulbs look for healthy, solid ones with the point perfectly intact and covered with a uniform tunic, without spots and areas soft to the touch. Popular now are the ones flowering low, up to 12" in height, adaptable to any space and creating a more spontaneous look like wild and rustic flowers.

The pot:

In the center of the pot plant bulbs of Cyclamen, blooming continuously from November to April with a bright red-purple, pink or white hue, while on the board better plant bulbs of Snowdrops, early to bloom with cold, with white bell flowers in their heads pointing downwards. Add Crocus buds, bright and cheerful along with the bulbs of Scilla, pink or blue. Other messengers of spring bulbs to plant nearby, waiting to see them blossom in March, are the Narcissus Tete-a-Tete, very minute and of a delicate yellow color and Muscari, with a thick, short stalks of deep blue.

It happens in April:

To complete the composition bury bulbs sprouting in April. A selection of Narcissus and tulip bulbs, yellow, pale red or white, very light and poetic, to which you can add the Hyacinth Carnegie, pure white and fragrant.

I personally love white flowers to the point that in a previous garden I tried to recreate Vita Sackville-West's white garden (I was always fascinated by her writing and her personality) with some success and many failures.

Or choose bright yellow hues which will bring sunshine to any grey day!

Tips:

It is preferable to choose large pots, plant the bulbs with the tip pointing up and to a depth that is twice their height. Add some fertilizer or manure and water sparingly. When the first buds sprout increase watering. The ideal exposure should be at least partially sunny. In the warm months of May all that will be left will be the bulbs, ready to be replanted in the fall or, even better, to be buried in flower beds or in the countryside for new, spectacular blooms.

The country habit has me by the heart,
For he's bewitched for ever who has seen,
Not with his eyes but with his vision,
Spring
Flow down the woods and stipple leaves
with sun.

('Winter' from "The Land" by Vita Sackville-West)