Apple tree on the allotment in flower

[FB.]

I've planted about 300 daffodils in the orchard over the past couple of years. No sign of a leaf anywhere, I wonder if the underground critters follow me round as I'm planting them, saying 'thanks for the winter food supply'.

Slugs make a nice mess of our bulbs; eating the bulbs and leaving gaps in the display. We have some miniature iris bulbs and the flower stalks are nearly always eaten.

Certain bulbs seem to have certain soil preferences, so if it's not the slugs maybe the bulbs don't like your soil (too heavy, too acid?).

I've also noticed that bulbs don't last very well if lifted too early and if stored in too warm/dry places. Snowdrops are especially difficult and are best not planted as bulbs if the bulbs have been out of the ground for more than a few days because they lose viability very quickly; instead take a chunk off an established clump* and replanting within a few hours, or buying (and immediately planting) cheap "clearance" potted snowdrops when they have gone off flowering in mid-spring.

* It is illegal to take snowdrops from the wild, so don't go digging up clumps of wild ones for transplanting into your garden!