When the first spring bulbs wither, they leave gaps in the bed planting. Unless you give them perennials that are able to hide the wilting.
Early bloomers such as daffodils, tulips and fritillaries have one disadvantage: they fade early in the garden year and are then no longer attractive to look at. Foliage and stems first turn yellow, then slowly dry up.
Although not everyone likes it, the plants should not be cut back prematurely, advises Andreas Adelsberger from the Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture and expert for the Association of German Perennial Gardeners.
The onion bloomers recharge their batteries over the next few weeks and store new storage substances in their bulbs and tubers. Only when the leaves have dried up can they be cut off.
Accompanying perennials take over
But the sight and the gap that arises later can be concealed. For example, Adelsberger recommends placing high-growing fritillaries in the background of a bed and combining them with perennials to fill in the gaps.
For example the Crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) do well in a planting Peonies (Paeonia lactiflora), purple meadow chervil (Anthriscus ‘Ravenswing’) and tall cranesbill species such as Geranium psilostemon.
Golden sheaf (Achillea filipendulina), Mediterranean spurge (Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii) and the Red Spurflower (Centranthus ruber) take the place of the moving one Persian Crown Imperial (Fritillaria persica) or the Dwarf Crown Imperial (Fritillaria raddeana).
also read
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Store somewhere else
The Bavarian Garden Academy has a somewhat more complicated tip: you can dig up the spent bulbs and give them a shady place to recharge your batteries and draw in their leaves over time. For this you put them in a box with some soil.
When the leaves have dried up, the bulbs can be placed in airy bags, in which you can store them in a dry and cool place until autumn.
Then they are planted back into the garden at the usual planting time for early-blooming bulbs: between September and November.
