Beautiful bulbs (From Hampshire Society)

Beautiful bulbs

3:42pm Friday 7th August 2009

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Do you remember those Victor Kiam television advertisements for electric razors? I was so impressed, I bought the company!” he used to say.

This is how Hampshire couple Rose and George Clowes became the proud owners of P. de Jager & Sons Ltd, a company of flower bulb specialists established in 1868.

Rose and George had enjoyed buying their bulbs from de Jager for many years and so, when they heard that Thelma de Jager was retiring after 50 years service with no opportunity for family continuity, they decided to buy the business.

de Jager supply top quality, top size bulbs and list over six hundred varieties in their current colourful catalogue.

The list includes 77 new or reintroduced varieties. Several of these, along with some old favourites, are marked with a pink ribbon, the emblem of Breast Cancer Campaign. George and Rose are hoping to raise substantial funds for the charity by donating ten per cent of sales on these items to BCC, money which is essential for the Breast Cancer Campaign’s mission to beat this cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how the cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure. Bravo, de Jager!

If you are not a very knowledgeable gardener, a large bulb catalogue can be a daunting tome. However, bulbs are generally easy to grow and, while they take time and effort to plant, you are often rewarded by low maintenance colour for many subsequent years.

Take crocuses, for example. These little bulbs show their faces early in the year and grow happily in a lawn, round the base of a tree, say. All you need to do is not mow them until they have died right back. I like them planted in single colours and particularly enjoy the deep violet C. purpureus grandiflorus, an unusual colour early on, when so many bulbs are yellow and white.

Daffodils are also better in grass. de Jager is offering a new variety under the Breast Cancer ribbon, aptly called ‘Precocious’.

This has an ivory-white perianth (the outer petals) and a frilly pink cup that looks like a can-can dancer’s skirt. I should imagine a vase of these would look very eye-catching.

The smaller daffodil varieties are more fashionable at present and ‘Tete-a-Tete’ is surely one of the most reliable and pretty, and naturalises well. I would not be without the very late flowering ‘Old Pheasants Eye’, which can bloom as late as May or even June.

Cobalt-blue Grape hyacinths are useful, if ubiquitous, but you seldom see the paler sky-blue variety, Muscari ‘Valerie Finnis’.

They look wonderful planted among the dark cream Hyacinth ‘City of Haarlem’, especially in a large pot, and then they can be planted out in borders afterwards.

I noticed, on a visit to Devon in June, the very striking Gladiolus byzantinus seems to have escaped from gardens and is naturalising on roadside verges. Hurrah! I saw them growing in Majorca in meadows some years ago and their brilliant purple-pink spikes are smaller, more elegant versions of Dame Edna’s gladioli that she waves around. A must for every border, especially good in association with Geranium psilostemon.

The extra large bulbs that de Jager sell of Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) are great for children to grow indoors and give as presents at Christmas. Up to five enormous trumpet flowers grow on top of a stout stem and last for a good period.

Another useful bulb for the Christmas holidays are Narcissus ‘Paperwhite’, which, if planted up in pots every couple of weeks, will provide a succession of the most scented flowers of all.

I would not be without them.

Tulips now come in all shapes and sizes and virtually every colour-way, too. ‘Angelique’ is a peony-flowered pale pink tulip that is excellent in containers but this year, I might try the Breast Cancer Campaign tulip ‘Pink Impression’, one of the Darwin hybrids which have enormous round flowers.

In the borders, I have found the lily-flowered types to be the most reliable year-on-year. A mixture of ‘Burgundy’ and ‘White Triumphator’ are striking together but I love all types of tulip.

The most flamboyant are surely the Parrot tulips, which need replenishing annually in my garden but are, nevertheless, worth the effort. Their fringed and often multi-coloured twisted flowers are exquisite, my personal favourite being ‘Apricot Parrot’.

If you want a really interesting bulb in your garden, try growing the unusual relation of the Iris with a terrible name: Hermodactylus tuberosa, known more usually as the ‘Widow Iris’.

They flower in April or May and are an extraordinary shade of olive green with velvet-black falls. Given a well-drained sunny spot, they will reappear to amaze your friends and neighbours every year.

The catalogue and the new web site are so crammed with goodies, it is impossible to include them all in this article. de Jager staff are pleased to help with enquiries about the bulbs, how to select and grow them, and they are also happy to quote for larger quantities than listed.

So what does the future hold for this Hampshire owned business?

“I am delighted that Thelma de Jager remains connected with the company in the richly deserved position of Life President,”

says George.

“The company is 141 years old and has a reputation for introducing stunning new varieties and has won several gold medals at Chelsea Flower Show. We intend to continue to supply interesting and top quality, top sized bulbs to our customers.”

Do not leave it too late to order your bulbs. It is difficult to think of next spring in the middle of August, I know, but you will not regret your purchases!

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