The spring pot - year three - margarita tulips, mascari and lilac wonder

My annual spring pot, crowned with some smashing margarita tulips

So I vanished. At the end of last year I abruptly stopped posting. The simple fact of the matter is I just didn't feel like it, lots of things were changing and my blog was a casualty of the process. But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy gardening! Nothing could put me off that, and now things have calmed down a bit I thought it would be fitting to come back to where it all started two years ago with my annual spring pot.

To set the scene every year in autumn the mother and I head to a garden centre, buy up half the bulbs and spend an afternoon trying to cram them all in the one pot. Its quite an art, like putting together crazy paving, and I must confess I leave the actual hard work of planting to my mother.

Mascara and scilla siberica alba   

But I do have a hand in its design, which is why last year it was an abysmal failure. I can't remember all in the ins and outs, but the general gist was some of the bulbs lied and made out they would fit into a blue and orange colour scheme when they were shocking red. It did not look good.

And you know what, I really wished I had gone pink last year, so this year I have embraced the somewhat feminine shade wholeheartedly. I think we have set the record for the number of varieties within the pot this year, at eight, and despite all the bulbs being crammed in there like commuters in Victoria underground station in rush hour, everything has come up just fine.

The real star of the show has been the lustrously dark pink Margarita tulips which are standing slightly above the rest of the flowers and really commanding attention. Its a really super variety, so much so I'm actually going to try and identify the bulbs to try and keep for next year. The wind has snapped off a couple but they are brightening up the kitchen windowsill instead now.

Early colour came from the combination of the blue chionodoxa forbesii and scilla siberica alba, and this blue and white combination has been carried through by my beloved mascara. I went back to my favourite blue latifolium variety with their contrasting top-nots, and for the first time this year I also threw in some white ones in the form of white magic. They are really unapologetically white, which is rather pleasing and just popping up between all the foliage now.

If anything in the pot is a bit 'meh' its the narcissus tresamble, but at the end of the day when competing with the likes of margarita and tulip lilac wonder there really is only so much a fairly simple white daffodil can do. It does add contrast though. Lilac wonder aren't remotely lilac but are instead a lovely shade of pink with delightfully eggs yellow centres. I do love a bit of yellow in the mix.

And lastly I was going to I can't really remember seeing tulip little beauty, but looking at my pictures I realise that is because they haven't actually come out yet! So still things to look forward too.

Margarita tulips