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The Shameless Hussies: read the novel online

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November 2^nd. An amazingly warm day so I spent all afternoon digging the garden just in a T-shirt (well, I did also have boots on).

At last I finished my ‘Wordsworth’ effort for this year, although the last daffodil bulbs were not planted lovingly but thrown into a trench any-old-how with the a shouted instruction to ‘find your own way up!’. And they will.

November is the month for planting Tulips.

Ah, Tulips, one of my passions.

The history of the Tulip, with its development in flower shapes, colours, variations of colour starts with the Meadow Tulip found in Istanbul in 1055. The book by Anna Pavord ‘The Tulip’ (Bloomsbury) contains the amazing story of the Tulip’s progress through many countries, how the demand for certain bulbs in Amsterdam made people penniless. So if you want to know more, Anna’s book is the one for the present list!

But on to the planting of these bulbs.

November is the best month to plant and in fact this year, due to the warmth, one could also plant as late in December.

I plant in two ways.

Firstly I buy mixed netted bags of tulip bulbs, these are for planting in the beds, shrubbery etc. One important factor is to think ahead to when the bulbs have flowered and leaves are dying back, which could be from late May onwards. Tulip bulbs need heat and therefore should not be planted under shrubs which when in full leaf will prevent warmth from reaching the bulb.

It may better to leave tulip bulbs in situ to die back slowly, so if the sight of dying tulip flowers worries you, then plant the bulbs now amongst wallflowers, polyanthus, or other spring flowers.

Next planting tip is not to plant them in straight lines (I use a wave shape),

but in squares surrounded by other spring flowers such as Forget-me-nots. These look very good around the taller tulips.

There are tulips for all planting situations from window boxes to formal parterres. So the heights and flowering times need to be considered.

My next planting of tulips is into pots. Here I buy slightly more expensive bulbs selecting for colour mixes, choosing heights for specific area plus specific flower shapes. These range from fluted, tall fluted, blowsy raised shapes, parrot-edged petals.

When in flower these pots are ideal for placing in the garden in areas that need colour in spring.

We have badgers who wander through the garden at night and their most annoying habit is to tip these pots over so to foil their cunning ways I keep the pots all together covered with a length of chicken wire. Once the tulips are about 5 inches tall, the pots are moved to positions around the garden where extra colour is needed, or to a prominent place to make a statement.

This year I have planted pots of Black Satin bulbs mixed with orange flute-shaped tulips. Another planting is ‘Shirley’ with its slender flowers of ivory edged with purple, mixed in with a purple variety.

How you mix colour, sizes, flowering times is a personal choice and the end result is usually pleasing, sometimes amazing, but vary rarely disappointing.

It’s handy that I have a passion for Tulips, because it means that I can indulge in writing about them again in May!

Garden Jobs for November.