Summer stars
The spectacular bulb display you've been enjoying all spring need not stop with the last tulip. Hundreds of beautiful summer-flowering bulbs, available in our garden centre, keep flowers coming till autumn.
- Alliums: the firework-like spheres of showy purple alliums light up the border from May to July. Choose from tall drumsticks of 'Purple Sensation', the huge 20cm-across spheres of 'Globemaster', or low-growing Allium Karataviense with pale pink heads and broad purple leaves. Nectaroscordum Siculum is closely related, with umbrellas of dangling bell-shaped creamy flowers flushed lilac.
- Dahlias: in flower from June to autumn, the choice is as dazzling as the flowers. Single-flowered dahlias mix most easily into borders: try scarlet 'Bishop of Llandaff' or white 'Twyning's After Eight'.
- Lilies: heady mid- to late-summer fragrance is the hallmark of stately Oriental lilies like white Lilium regale. Brightly-coloured Asiatics like the yellow 'Grand Cru' are non-scented but don't need staking: and elegant Martagon lilies have over 20 blooms to a stem.
- Crocosmia: super-easy to grow with handsome strappy foliage, flame-coloured crocosmia lights up borders from July to September. Choose from vivid scarlet 'Lucifer', crimson-splashed orange 'Emily McKenzie' or buttery 'Warburton's Yellow'.
Please ask the staff in our garden centre in Athlone for more information and advice about choosing bulbs for summer displays.
