springs bulbe

[nosferato]

hey all,
just bought my bulbs for the spring, and i have read you can either plant them in a lawn and let them naturalize, or keep them in pots and once they have died down ..(i believe this to mean flowers gone and leafs dieing)you can take them out of the pots and put in paper bags for the following year, is this the case. and lastly what do you think is the best way to get a display leave them in the ground or pot them
thank you for any advise

[rustylady]

Depends a lot on what varieties you have Nosferato. You are right about dying down. However, if bulbs are growing in pots, they do need watering and feeding right up to the point where the leaves start to go yellow and then brown. At this point stop watering. When the leaves have died completely tip the pot out, separate the bulbs from the compost and dry the bulbs off before storing. Things like daffodils and crocus naturalise quite happily in borders or lawns and you can leave them in. If they're in borders and happy, you may need to lift the clumps and divide them every few years so they don't get overcrowded. Lots of people recommend lifting tulips every year and replanting in Autumn, but I don't bother. We're quite lucky with the weather here in East Anglia, and my tulips have come through fine for four years now.

[Flummery]

Remember that if you naturalise daffs etc in a lawn you can't cut it until about 6 weeks after flowering has finished. In practice this can be around mid June. You will have raggy long grass for weeks then a pale and (un)ineresting bit for several more weeks. I personally don't like this effect but each to his own.