Garden Pots - Winter to Spring

Last year, with a bit of help, we made some really lovely pots for outside our kitchen window and we've tried to re-create them this year as it was decidedly cheering to be able to look out on some colour through winter and also to be able to see spring arriving when the time came.

Now I'm no gardener - our current garden is the first I've ever had and Hugh are I are really learning as we go along... but I thought it was worth sharing something that has worked for us because, if we can do it then, seriously, anyone can.

We bought these two tin baths ages ago at Columbia Rd flower market and they've served us very well.
First up you half fill your pot with compost and plant your bulbs (Narcissi 'Tete-a-Tete' in this case - which is the mini daffodil). If you plant daffs now you'll probably just get away with it I think - especially in London where it hasn't got too cold yet!



We didn't get a photo of the next bit - but we then added a couple more inches of compost and put in some anemone corms (again we put in ones saved from last year - they had actually started putting up leaves again already, a bit confused by the warm autumn we've had I guess) and muscari.

Finally we filled the pot up and planted in the violas.





We managed to find quite a lot of self seeded viola's from around the garden - the result of last years pot.



We have quite a few squirrels passing through our garden - so we put a layer of gravel on the top to stop them from nicking the bulbs as they have a tendency to do apparently.

So now we have a bit of winter colour and can look forward to something a bit like this appearing next spring...