Has anyone used the ^layering^ method with bulbs in pots?

Does planting a layer of tulips and topping the pot out with winter pansies work? I’ve never done anything but just bulbs and I’d like to try it this year. How deep does my pot need to be?

Thanks, WW2.

SueDonim

I’ve been using the layering method for a few years. Last year I tried tulips, daffodils & crocus. The tulips were a total non-event. I suspect it’s because the tulips were planted too early, and they just failed.

This year I’ll do tulips in their own pots and have daffs /crocus/muscari in other ones.

As an aside, looking at what’s available in garden centres this autumn, there seems to be some lovely new bulbs around.

Yes I think that is the issue with using tulips. They need planting so much later than other bulbs.

Callistamon
Yes, it's Dulux.

MerylStreep I got quite excited the other day when DH said a neighbour had passed over some unwanted pots, some "quite large".
When I looked, "large" was not what I thought would be large.

I do have a very large tatty plastic pot, perhaps painting it might be a good idea. Is that Dulux gloss?

Most bulbs are poisonous to dogs so if you've got one that's likely to dig them up then it's not a good idea to plant them where the dog can get to them

NannyC1
Just good old Dulux

Squirrels will eat hyacinth bulbs here so cover them over with chicken wire cages when finished flowering or hide them in the shed. I lost all of mine in one cold year but the squirrels were happy.

MerylStreep my neighbour with my permission threw out his rubbish into my skip. Omg a beautiful big blue ceramic pot and 6 plastic ones. Hm they didn't stay there for long! I love the thought of layering. What paint do you use for your pots please

Callistamon
i need more pots Put the word out there to friends and family. Unwanted pots re-homed ?
There's an old gentleman that I garden for every 2 weeks. I noticed some very nice neglected pots and troughs in his greenhouse. So I just asked him if I could have them.
They are now painted that lovely Greek dark blue.
A few days ago I took a neighbour to the garden centre for a large shrub. She needed me to plant it.
Lurking at the back of her garden was a very old Grecian Urn type of pot. I asked her what she was doing with it ? That now got a new lease of life with a Hydrangea in it.

We did 2 large layered pots on the patio this Spring. Daffodils, Hyacinths, Crocus, Grape Hyacinths and Tulips. They all did well except the tulips which didn't appear until the pots were beginning to look rather untidy, and there were only a few. I'm sure we planted more. We'll probably do it again this year but put the tulips in a pot on their own. We have a very curious dog who loves to dig up what we plant so we put a mound of chicken wire over the pots until the bulbs appeared and were about 6-8 inches tall.

I had a pot garden up until last month. Alas wilt has destroyed a lot of my planting . It's been too cold and wet for too long round here. So far have chucked the contents of eight large planters and 4 little ones - and I can see it's got into two or three more.

Can you lot stop talking about all these bulbs please! I was going to cut back on what I did this year, because apart from being broke, my husband kept saying he thinks less would be more. Now I am reading all these lovely ideas and thinking, "Ooh, I could do that!"
Chewbacca, you monochromatic look sounds exciting and very tempting.
Gingergirl, soap shavings deter squirrels apparently and, if I get too tempted, I might give them a try as we have hundreds of squirrels rampaging around our garden.

Yes, I do this too but have to be careful as last year a few of the bulbs didn't appear. Some bulbs last longer than others so I will be a little more careful when choosing the contents. Just done an hour of weeding. Ground is beautifully soft but energy ran out. Oh well, back to the writing.

I love bulbs in pots...but any ideas how to deter squirrels?They ate £20 worth of bulbs last year.

Are these bulbs compatible with having dog

Oh, that's a thought. We may be dog sitting.

Just a word of warning if anyone is thinking of planting muscari in garden beds:
It takes over, it's impossible to get rid of.

The squirrels ate my tulip bulbs which were in pots as soon as they started sprouting. We had to put wire netting over which spoiled the effect somewhat.

I may try the layering but first I need more pots!

Are these bulbs compatible with having dogs , I’d love to plant a few in my pots just a bit nervous.

I've been to Kathy Brown's container garden in Bedfordshire twoor three times. She has an amazing range of ideas.

One simple but really effective one was to plant the pot in two halves with early and late bulbs.

When the first half is finished flowering just turn the pot 180 degrees and have a whole new display!

The leaves of the not flowering bulbs make a backdrop.

Hope I've explained that OK.

oh gosh, I just wish I could see photos of all of your gardens

I have 22 large pots, mostly with perennials and shrubs in, but 2 are empty ready for layering. This year, mini narcissi, big narcissi crocuses alliums.

Some I will plant around the edge of already planted pots.

Go for it MerylStreep, I like the idea too that others have suggested- to move the pots around for best colourful effect.

I can’t see any problem. I have pots that have layers of bulbs, and in the early summer I plant them with bedding plants. Same pot, several seasons.

Sarah Raven popularised this, and called it “bulb lasagne”.

www.sarahraven.com/articles/layering-bulbs-how-to-make-a-bulb-lasagne.htm

That’s lovely about your parents’ flowers, H1954. What a special way to remember them.

I haven’t found the foliage to be a problem as new bulbs come through. The fresh leaves cover over the old ones.

Chewbacca I have Queen of the Night and another almost-black tulip in a bed. I can’t decide what colours to plant this year in pots. It’s for a north facing area so dark colours don’t really show up in the shadows. Maybe I’ll do all white or perhaps a mix of pink and white.

Sissinghurst Castle also has white flower beds, in fact I think Vita Sackville West might have been the person who introduced colour themed gardening in the UK.

Hopefully, I'm understanding you correctly; do you mean various different bulbs on layers in the same pot? If so, fill your boots ( not literally ) ?, it's a brilliant way to showcase the bulbs and put the pots out of sight when the flowers start dying off. When my parents died I unearthed loads of bulbs from their garden before I sold the property, I had no idea which was which, just knew they were spring flowering. I knew a crocus bulb from a daffodil bulb naturally, but there was so many varieties. I planted up lots of pots in the autumn, gave several away to my siblings and daughters and now we all enjoy the very same flowers that my parents loved to see in their own garden! These are ideal to fill an empty space in a border too.