2020 was the first full year I have had a garden to hurl things at so I am now in a position to make some recommendations which will also handily remind me what I'm planting come Autumn 2021.
I might as well start off with the ever lovely but short lived spectacle of the tulips. By far my favourite tulip this year was Ballerina. It's a fine shade of orange with a wonderful scent and I am told often hangs around for a second year. We shall see if this years crop reappear in 2022 but if I'm spared I will be planting more. I teamed Ballerina with a tulip called Purple Dream which I'm afraid wasn't at all successful. Almost all the Purple Dream bulbs flopped over, having consulted the internet my best guess is that a late frost upset them at a crucial stage but I can't be certain. I will give them one last go this year and see if I'm any luckier. I also plan to add a tulip called Negrita into the mix and see if it fares any better.
Two other excellent tulips that I can also recommend are Purissima and Spring Green. Purissima is a large, creamy white tulip with a faint yellowish green stripe. Spring Green is similar but later, smaller with a very pronounced green stripe. I will be planting more of both of these this year.
The last of my tulips worth mentioning is Angelique,these are very late to flower but worth the wait. They resemble pink peonies more than tulips and despite their vast heavy heads stand up straight. If they had scent they'd probably be my favourites. I teamed them with a few Black Parrot I had spare which worked well, I may repeat this in Autumn but I'm leaning towards the view they don't really need a supporting cast.
Speaking of scent I planted three lovely S.Arnott snowdrops which I purchased in the green after going mad in an eBay auction. I'm very glad I did because the honey scent was remarkable, I hope they will reappear next spring not only for their scent but also for their appearance- much taller than a normal snowdrop but still delicate and elegant. I'm told snowdrops don't establish well when planted as bulbs and are best planted in the green but I think I'll try my luck a few bulbs on cost grounds and see how it goes. I will also probably get a few more in the green because I'm really very keen to get these growing en masse.
Two more beautifully scented stars of 2021 were Daffodil Actaea and Daffodil Pheasants Eye. They look very similar though Pheasants eye is a little smaller and later. Scent wise Pheasants Eye seemed a wee bit more powerful but I'll be planting both for a longer display. Both are extremely pretty white daffodils with a very small yellow-orange centre. They look like little stars in the night garden and are well worth giving a bit of garden space to.
Any one of the bulbs I have mentioned so far would make wonderful cut flowers, particularly any of the scented varieties.
I've had some disappointing results with some other bulbs, very few of the Alliums I planted have put in an appearance- some of this can be attributed to squirrels but it may be they just don't like my garden. I'll have one last go this year and see what happens. The Snakeshead Fritillaries were somewhat disappointing in that so few came up but those that did were well worth the effort. It was a similar story with the Imperial Fritillaries, I'm going to try these in containers next time and see if they fare any better.
I planted two varieties of crocus this year Snow Bunting and Blue Pearl, both performed well and I hope to see them again in 2022 but they're very small and I like a big vulgar crocus. I might plant a few next year in pots where they can be properly appreciated and fill the borders with Ruby Giant and Pickwick instead.
This year I plan to add some hyaciths for scent and some gladioli byzantinus to the above and will report back assuming the plague or some other catastrophe doesn't get me first.
