Late Bulbs add an Oriental touch

The term ‘bulb’ includes corms, rhizomes and tubers — all of which store food beneath the ground during periods of drought and dormancy (see box, far right). They are mostly associated with spring, but the autumn-flowering plants in the main arrangement on the facing page grow from corms.

The poppy-like white anemone, strappy liriope and black ophiopogon originate from China and Japan. They have been planted in a wide, shallow bowl to create an appropriately oriental effect.’

All these plants grow best in a rich, slightly acid soil. This needs to be kept moist, so in a rare dry autumn you will probably have to water the pot regularly as moisture will evaporate fast from this large surface area.

Anemone `Honorine Jobert’, planted in the centre of the bowl, is a beautiful hardy perennial with single white flowers, tinged with pink on the underside and with golden-yellow stamens.

Unlike daffodils and other spring bulbs, which / store energy from their dying foliage, anemones need to be cut right down to ground level after flowering.

However, because this anemone is surrounded by a ring of evergreen perennials — both members of the lily family — any gap left in the arrangement will be well disguised. Liriope muscari Variegata’ has narrow, glossy dark green and yellow variegated leaves with dense spikes of bright violet-mauve long-lasting flowers; Ophiopogon planiscapus `Nigrescens’ has dramatic black grass-like leaves. In late summer this plant produces spires of lilac flowers which are followed by round fleshy black fruits.

This arrangement is best planted in early summer to allow plants to establish — most hate being repotted when close to, or in, flower.

Pots in Dappled Light

In an alternative planting on the left a group of matching pots in various sizes brings together a diverse collection.

Many grasses are at their best in autumn when their fluffy heads sway in the breeze — although they can get tatty if they are exposed to strong winds. The elegant waving grass, Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’, with its soft plume-like flowerheads in the golden yellow of wheat, likes full sun, as does the white Cyclamenpersicum which is in the smallest pot, so these occupy the foreground where there is most light.

Behind them, the graceful white anemone, Honorine Jobert’, makes an ideal container companion for Blechnum spicant (hard fern). Both are happy growing in the dappled shade at the edge of a stoep or patio.

Buried Stores of Energy

Bulbs, which plants like daffodils grow from, are made up of fleshy leaf bases.

Corms, from plants such as cyclamen, are swollen stems with buds at the top.

Rhizomes are fat stems that creep horizontally, such as those of irises.

Tubers are thickened roots, found in plants like dahlias.

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