Planting Tulips and Wallflowers Together: How to Create a Stunning Spring Display
Autumn is the time to plan and plant your bulbs to ensure you get great displays next spring. While there are so many bulbs that you can plant and in lots of different settings, we love the combination of tulips and wallflowers. Why not try it and give you garden a boost next spring?
Why Plant Wallflowers with Tulips?
Height and Structure
Tall tulip stems are perfectly complemented by the low, bushy habit of wallflowers, giving your displays height and depth. Wallflowers are also excellent for filling in the gaps and covering bare soil, so your pots and borders don't look empty over winter.
Blooming Time
Both tulips and wallflowers will generally reach their peak blooming season at around the same time in mid-to-late spring. This means that your display will look full throughout the flowering season and give your garden some much-needed colour after the winter months.
Planting Time
Both bare-root wallflowers and tulip bulbs should be planted in October to November. Planting them at the same time makes it very easy to create your entire display in one go with minimal effort.
Scent and Colour Contrast
Wallflowers have a wonderfully rich, sweet fragrance that can elevate your tulips, which generally have very little scent. Both wallflowers and tulips come in a wide range of colours and styles, so you can have fun with your combinations too! Go for a bold, contrasting palette, or a harmonious blend of hues – the choice is yours!
How to Plant Bare-Root Wallflowers and Tulips
The process for planting these two flowers is very simple, but the results can be truly stunning.
1. When your bare-root wallflowers arrive, you need to get them planted as soon as possible. Soak them for at least an hour before planting to hydrate the roots.
2. Choose a sunny spot and grab a large, well-draining, frost-proof container. Fill with good-quality compost until there’s around 15-20 cm of space left. This is the general planting depth for tulips, but be sure to refer to the individual varieties for specific planting instructions and adjust accordingly. Try our Bulb Starter to give your tulips the best start.
3. Place your tulip bulbs in the compost with the pointed end facing upwards, leaving at least a finger’s width between them to allow them space to grow.
4. Fill the pot to the top with compost.
5. Use a trowel to dig holes deep enough to accommodate your wallflowers’ roots. Place the plant in the hole with the roots spread downwards and the base of the stem level with the soil surface. Leave around 15 cm between your wallflower root balls to allow the tulips to grow through and emerge in spring.
6. Firm the soil around your wallflowers and water them in well, making sure that your pot can drain.
How to Care for Tulips and Wallflowers in Pots Over Winter
As you’re growing live wallflower plants, it’s important that you don’t simply tuck the pot away somewhere dark over the winter period as they will need light. Here are our top tips to keep your display healthy over winter and ready for spring.
Elevate Your Pot
It’s really important that your pot is able to properly drain, so raising it onto some pot feet or even just some bricks is essential. This means that the drainage holes don’t get blocked and any rainwater can easily escape.
Protect Against the Cold
Although wallflowers and tulips are both cold-hardy, prolonged or severe freezing conditions can still cause damage. You can move the pot closer to a sheltered house wall or underneath a porch, and this will help to block the worst of the winds and winter downpours. If a severe frost is forecast, you can also wrap the pot itself in something warming like bubble wrap to prevent the soil from freezing and damaging the roots.
Check Moisture Levels
Do not overwater your pot – it will only need watering if the top few centimetres of compost feel dry to the touch. If there’s plenty of rain and your pot is exposed, you may not need to water it at all over winter, but continue to check the compost during dry spells.
Easy to plant and requiring minimal maintenance, tulips and wallflowers are a classic combination for creating a stunning spring display. Give this pairing a go this autumn - explore our full range of tulips and bare-root wallflowers to get started.
