When to plant crocus bulbs
Small but mighty, crocuses are the best way to add a smattering of colour to your garden. Use them to carpet the lawn or get busy planting crocus bulbs in pots for a classic spring display.
Why plant crocus bulbs?
Brighten up the first days of spring with an injection of colourful crocuses. These hardy miniature blooms come in vibrant purple, a rich golden yellow and pristine white. Grow them alongside hellebores or layer them up in pots as part of a bulb lasagne with other spring-flowering bulbs like tulips and daffodils. Alternatively, plant the bulbs through a lawn or border and leave them to naturalise (spread about) so they carpet the place in spring.
Pollinators will go wild for the pollen-packed petals of these early flowerers, especially hungry bees who’ve just come out of winter hibernation. Crocuses are easy to grow, reliable and they come back every year. What more could we ask for?
When to plant crocus bulbs in the UK
There are two types of crocus: spring-flowering crocuses and autumn-flowering crocuses.
Plant spring-flowering crocus bulbs any time between September and November.
Get autumn-flowering crocus bulbs in the ground or in pots in late summer. August or September is ideal. They might bloom later than expected in the first year but, during their second trip around the sun, they’ll show their petals in autumn or early winter.
Where to plant crocuses
Crocuses like a good gritty soil or compost that drains freely. They don’t need especially fertile ground, so there’s no need to add organic matter before planting crocus bulbs.
Most varieties like to see the sun when they’re in flower, but a few will tolerate some shade. In the ground, crocuses are very happy growing in short grass under deciduous trees (the ones that lose their leaves in winter). The soil here will have seen lots of leaf litter and they’ll be able to bloom before new leaves emerge above them and block out the light.
Growing crocus bulbs in the ground
In your garden, crocuses will start to naturalise and spread out of the area you’ve planted them. Over time, they’ll create a classic spring carpet of colour and make quite the impact.
To start off crocuses in a lawn, plant the bulbs in small groups. Scatter them on the grass and plant them where they land, using a trowel or a bulb planter to make the holes. How deep to plant crocus bulbs? Most varieties should be 7-10cm deep and 5-10 cm apart, but some Dutch crocuses prefer to be a touch deeper, say 12cm. It’s always a good idea to check the back of the packet for any specifics before you get started.
Once your bulbs are in the ground, get out the watering can and give them a water to help them get settled.
How to plant crocus bulbs in pots
Crocuses are the perfect companions for other spring-flowering bulbs. While there’s no rule against planting up a pot of them on their own, they often look best as part of a container display. A bulb lasagne is a tasty mix of different spring bulbs that flower successionally over the season. Think daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, miniature irises…
Once you’ve planted other spring bulbs in container, add a few crocus bulbs as an upper layer, around 7-10cm deep. They’ll pop up at the same time as other plants are blooming and add a drop of extra colour. Don’t forget to water each pot after planting, to make sure the bulbs start doing their thing.
Crocus bulb care
Unless there’s a particularly dry spell, you can usually just leave the rain to water crocuses in your lawn. Keep an eye on bulbs in pots though. Stick a finger in the soil and, if it’s dry a few inches down, get out the watering can and give them a slurp.
There’s no need to deadhead crocuses. Once they’ve flowered, avoid mowing the grass until their foliage has died back naturally. This will encourage them to come back next year and to spread and make new flowers.
When crocuses in spring pot displays have died back, dig up the bulbs, dry them off and store them in a paper bag in the shed. Bring them out again in autumn and pop them into some new pots, ready to start all over again.
