Would this flower scheme work?

[cheops]

I've a large semicircular flower bed I want to plant out with bulbs this Autumn. Next spring and throughout the summer I want to have achieved continuous colour as far as is possible. My thinking which if flawed I need you to expose the flaws before I buy the bulbs.

200/300 iris reticulata will appear early with no competition and flower in Feb.

150 miniature daffodil 'Topolino - flowers March.

150 Fritillaria Assyriaca - flowers April

200 tulip 'Jan Reus' - flowers late April / May

100 Dutch Iris - flowers May /June

100 Allium Bulgaricum - flowers May / June

75 Allium Azureum and 75 Allium Sphaerocephalon both flower June

100 Tiger Lilies flower July /September.

I'm hoping nothing will smother the other. All except the daffodils and tulips have very little foliage. I'm expecting the iris, alliums and lilies will push up through the tulip and daffodil foliage and rise above it to bloom. Will this happen with no problems? Or is it a piped team only albeit a lovely one at that. Thanks for your thoughts.

[SusieG]

^^^ sounds like it would look lovely Cheops ~ unfortunately I can't answer your question for you. One of the lovely flower people who know what they're talking about will be along soon...!

[cheops]

Thanks Susie I do believe it would look lovely but. I'm worried the foliage from the tulips and daffodils will be too much of a barrier for the other bulbs.

[WendyC]

Are you planning on planting these in layers? i think I would plant each in it's own patch then there is no competition from other bulb's foliage. Then you could have the option later in the year to put in some bedding plants over the early flowering bulbs as the leaves die off. How about some crocuses in your scheme? I have never managed to get irises to flower again for a second year.

[cheops]

Thanks Wendy. In this bed I'm trying to avoid putting each flower species in their own patch. I'm hoping to achieve this by planting the bulbs not in layers but side by side - by that I mean a tulip bulb then an allium then an iris and so on, with each bulb almost touching. It will be like a carpet of bulbs before they are covered with soil. If I get it right I won't need to use bedding plants as there will always be a canopy of flowers across the entire bed. I did think of crocus but I in the end decided on iris reticulata instead.

[mothhawk]

Remember each bulb will have only one flower, so you may end up with a week or two in between with no flowers at all. I don't know how big your bed is, but to fit in over a thousand bulbs, it's going to be a bit gappy as you only plan on having max 300 flowers at a time.

[cheops]

A fair point mothawk but I think by May some of the flowering will be overlapping and remember alliums are very long flowering with attractive seed heads. The bed is a shallow half circle with a diameter of about 24 feet so it's not huge. If I decide to go ahead I will rethink bulb numbers just in case as you've got me thinking. My main concern is the awful foliage both daffodils and tulips make. Alliums and iris should spearhead through this and lilies too. I say should but I'm waiting to see if anyone says no -they will be choked and suffer from that.

[mothhawk]

They're bulbs - plenty of growing strength, they won't be choked out, they'll just spear up through it all and take over as the other leaves die back. I have a tub permanently planted with iris reticulata, crocus, chiondoxa, daffs, and tulips, and they grow up among each other no problem.

[cheops]

Just what I wanted to hear. Thx mothawk. Time to go online and get my debit card out.

[rary]

cheops you may find that some of the bulbs will be late/early as the weather will play a part on when they flower, personaly I would go with your plan and take notes on when they first show and flower also record weather conditions for future guidance

[cheops]

Good idea rary. Thanks for that input.

[WPG]

Sounds great cheops - you're in the same climate as me, so I'd be really interested to hear your progress and flowering times.

I grow a lot of alium sphaerocephalon, and find they tend to flower in July/Aug rather than June. They're a tidy plant, in that they don't leave unsightly foliage behind, but I've found I sometimes need to stake them.

You'd asked about whether the dying foliage would get in the way - I think you'd be fine with the daffodils given that they're dwarf, but you might find the tall tulips a bit unsightly when dying back (or you could lift them). If you're thinking of adding anything other than bulbs, I'd tend to add a few wallflowers in between too - they always look nice with bulbs, and can be pulled out after flowering.

Good luck!

[cheops]

Hey WPG nice to have you as a neighbour. In my back [main garden] I grow lots of alliums. It's great they have so little foliage, they are long lasting and best of all great for the bees. You must have a lot of bees yourself with your Sphaerocephalon.
I've never recorded when any of my plants flower so that something that I intend doing from next spring.
I usually order my bulbs and plants from Parkers wholesale. Being wholesale they are very cheap though they expect a minimum order of fifty pounds. For example a hundred Sphaerocephalon bulbs are five pounds. Add vat to any order unless it's food that is fruit trees etc.
I love tulips but I'm aware as you say the foliage is horrendous. To lift them would be a hassle I wouldn't want. I still haven't made my order yet as I'm still unsure.
Have a look at Parkers. They have for example loads of different alliums, hundreds of tulips and so on.
Strangely I've never somehow grew wallflowers. I'm wondering would primula candelabra be a good substitute for tulips. Parkers have them at 10 for £5.50