Spring Flowering Bulbs

In Australia we are lucky to be able to grow a wide range of spring flowering bulbs, as winter leaves us the garden bursts into life with early daffodills, tulips, hyacinths, jonquils and freesias but lots of other bulbs can be grown that will provide us with flowers in the spring, some early and some late.

Of the unusual or rarer bulbs Trillium flower early, usually in the first months of October, fantastic foliage and great flowers in a woodland setting. Erythronium (Trout Lily) are also showing their nodding heads as are some of the species gladioli, not the big florist or 'Dame Edna' types they come later

Interesting species from South Africa such as Spiloxene capensis our 'late spring stars' (picture right) variable in colour, ours are white with a deep red centre, others are white with iridescent green centre, some are cream with greyish markings,and some with a ?Äúdot?Äù on the white tepals, also yellow with iridescent green centre, plain yellow and some with just a ?Äúdot?Äù.

These spring stars will spread naturally, or you could try to collect the tiny black seeds. Where are they from? the are widely found throughout the Western Cape and Namaqualand.

It is important to remember that not all types of the one bulb will flower in spring, Arisaema are a classic example with A. Fargesii and A.ringens flowering for us in the middle if the Spring Racing Carnival, early November at the same time Watsonia is blooming. A candidisimum is still hiding away in spring and will not appear until things start to warm up. Crocus are another, with some being very early such as C.vitellinus and other being later or even at a toatally different time of the year.