Nourish to Flourish: Spring Flowering Care Guide
In the Southern Hemisphere, the light is shifting—days stretch a little longer, nights grow shorter, and the air carries a gentle promise: spring is in the air. Already, blossoms are beginning to burst, scattering colour, releasing fragrance and quite simply, bringing real joy…
Here’s your Nourish to Flourish: Spring Flowering Care Guide to ensure you enjoy your blooms to the max.
Spring Blooming
Now is the time your lovingly planted winter bulbs should now be stirring—if they haven’t already. Leucojum and daffodils, Muscaria nd hyacinths are beginning to enchant with their colour and fragrance. Truly, few sights are more glorious than a sea of daffodils swaying in the gentle breeze of early spring, a radiant reward after the long, cold winter. Though, spring blooming doesn’t mean you can simply forget about them…
Depending on the time you planted out, some varieties may still be slightly wrapped in their winter growth cycle, but once the ground temperatures warm significantly, they’ll be bursting into bloom all over. This is the time to ensure your watering regimen is tip top, especially on the Highveld and other summer rainfall areas where you may still be waiting for the rains to come. Keep a check on your soil, and water if and when it feels dry to the touch. Different bulbs have different watering needs, so do take that into account. If your soil isn’t particularly well draining, be sure not to overwater or the bulbs may drown or rot. In the winter-rainfall areas, keep a check on the soil moisture, particularly if your soil is very clay.
Snippets of Spring: Cutting for the Vase
- Choose a suitable vessel for the flowers or foliage you want to display.
- Clean your vessel thoroughly.
Fill it with fresh water and add flower food to extend vase life.
Snip your blooms—such as Ranunculus—when the buds show a hint of colour, trimming them to a height that looks balanced in your vessel.
Arrange your flowers and place the vase somewhere out of direct sunlight.
Sit back and enjoy your spring display!
Spring Feeding
Generally, freshly planted bulbs contain enough stored energy to carry them through flowering. However, giving them a boost with Hadeco Bulb Food—or a balanced, slow-release organic fertiliser—once the first shoots appear can only help, encouraging stronger growth. The most important feeding, though, comes after flowering, while the bulbs are still actively growing and storing energy for the following year’s blooms.
Spring Patrolling
Keep an eye out for common pests like aphids and slugs, as well as the less frequent but utterly destructive lily borer—public enemy number one for Clivia, Hippeastrum, Crinum and Agapanthus. Organic treatments can certainly help, but nothing beats getting up close and personal with your plants. Think of it as a daily “plant patrol”: a quick check-in to spot troublemakers early and stop them before they throw a spring fling at your expense.
Spring Fading into Summer
Once your bulbs have finished blooming, snip off the spent flowers so the plant doesn’t waste energy producing seeds (unless, of course, you fancy trying your hand at growing from seed next season). This is also the time to feed your bulbs generously, helping them store up the nutrients they’ll need for next year’s display. Be sure to leave the leaves in place, though—they’re vital for photosynthesis and for channeling energy back into the bulb. Only cut them away once they’ve yellowed and withered, at which point trimming will also keep the garden looking neat. Remember to pop in a marker or tag where your bulbs are hiding—otherwise, come summer sprucing, you may end up unearthing them by mistake.
The Inevitable Summer Dormancy
Many bulbs are hardy perennials and can be left right where they are, snug under a blanket of mulch. Some, like Crinum, dislike being disturbed once planted, so be sure to give larger varieties a permanent spot that suits them from the start. In most parts of South Africa, lifting and storing bulbs over summer isn’t necessary. However, if you need to—for example, because of limited space, heavy clay soil that retains too much water, or more sensitive bulbs that won’t tolerate extreme temperatures—wait until the foliage has naturally died back. Then lift them carefully, brush off excess soil, dust with a fungicide, and allow them to dry separately in a cool, well-ventilated place before storing them in a paper bag or mesh sack. Discard any bulbs that look diseased or damaged to avoid spreading problems to healthy ones. Keep your stored bulbs cool, dark, and dry until next season… and maybe leave yourself a reminder note, so you don’t stumble across them months later and wonder who hid them there.
Spring Abundance
Most spring-blooming bulbs will multiply and return each spring, providing more and more flowers every year. However, some bulbs—such as Narcissus(daffodils), and Hyacinthus(hyacinths)—tend to perform best in their first season before gradually producing smaller blooms. Keep in mind that many varieties replanted after lifting may not flower the following year, as they often need a full growing season to re-establish themselves. In addition, certain bulbs, particularly Narcissus, can be treated more like biennials, with a decline in floriferousness over time. To keep your spring garden vibrant, it’s worth planting fresh bulbs every couple of years alongside those you’ve kept from previous seasons.
If you have your bulbs in containers, you can happily leave them in situ, covered with a nice thick layer of mulch, or overplanted with some seasonal annuals. However, if you want to reuse the pot for summer bulbs, replant the winter varieties a bit deeper in the pot under the summer stuff once their leaves have withered.
Do take the opportunity as plants die back to see where there are any gaps in your beds or containers, and what may need some ‘screening’. Lastly, enjoy planting out your summer bulbs and annuals this spring!
Happy blooming!
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