Best Way to Display Scented Spring Bulbs in Your House

Scented bulbs are a real bonus in late winter and early spring, their rich colours and wonderfully pervasive scent bringing life and colour to the house at a time of year when there is relatively little in the way of flowering plants. Support bulbs carefully to keep them blooming as long as possible.

In spring, you have a wide choice of bulbs for the house which ate mostly forced so that they come out earlier than garden bulbs. They bring a welcome fore-taste of spring to your rooms well before spring actually arrives. Among the best scented bulbs are daffodils and hyacinths; others, such as some types of grape hyacinth, ate equally attractive but ate less strongly scented.

Pretty though the larger bulbs are, they often droop in the warmth of room. They are best kept in as cool an environment as possible until the buds are ready to open and when brought into warmth should be given some additional support. Finding ways to provide this without interfering with the delicate appearance of the bulbs and thereby spoiling the display is an art in itself.

There are many different forms of support or frame you can use, but the most attractive are those that com­plement the plants. These you can make yourself from nature’s own materials – twisted twigs of the supple stems of trees or shrubs are ideal for the purpose.

A container that disguises the plastic pot in which the bulbs ate normally supplied is an important element in the overall effect. You can use a ceramic cachepot of a basket lined with plastic. Moss is an excellent material for covering the unattractive bare soil in the pot and also conserves moisture.

After flowering the bulbs should be allowed to die down naturally. When the foliage has withered, lift the bulbs and store them in a cool, dry, dark place for replanting in the autumn. Alternatively, plant them out in the garden after flowering.

If you wish, you can group several small containers of bulbs, scented and unscented, on a kitchen window-sill or occasional table. Keep the colours to a limited range – blues and yellows, perhaps – for the best effect.