The best spring bulbs for small, shady spots and container gardens

I’ve long maintained that bulbs can be brilliant for beginner, container and urban gardeners (of which I am all three): throw most tulips, muscari, daffs [daffs are narcissi, so I've gone with common name] , and Iris reticulata in pots with good enough compost and they will be alright. But the woodland balcony I’ve been nurturing for just over a year poses the conundrum of part-shade, and which spring flowers will bloom from under it; not to mention the daily battles with squirrels.

This spring, I managed to raise and delight in tulips, dwarf white alliums, starflowers (Ipheon ‘Alberto Castillo’) and those old faithful, Anemone blanda . But they were hastily shoved into pots in the midst of moving in and mass-DIY. This year, diagrams have been drawn up and varieties hunted down. I have bold intentions of planting a range of shade-tolerant bulbs that will awake from the depths of winter until the end of spring, bringing jolts of colour and interest as the bare oaks beyond start to bud again come April.  

Bulbs, however, are designed to make the most of what sunlight is around before larger plants flourish, making them innate sun-lovers - even in those short early days of the year. When one adds the confinement of a pot, things get trickier. Even sticking with woodland varieties, I’ve never had much luck with pot-based snowdrops , which prefer to naturalise in the ground proper, and while I dream of a balcony headily scented with lily of the valley, they’re notoriously tricky to settle even in the ground .

Chris Ireland-Jones, of Avon Bulbs, agrees bulbs for shady spots are a grim prospect: “in poor light they get long and straggly and then fall over, mostly.” However, he does suggest some that might work: Ornithogalum nutans, or drooping Star-of-Bethlehem, is an elegant white option that isn’t used as often as it should be. There’s also cyclamen, both coum and hederifolium, which will bring green interest with textured leaves even if the petals don’t emerge.

Bob Purnell, a far more experienced container gardener than me, was more optimistic. “Many spring flowering bulbs are surprisingly tolerant of partial shade when grown in pots,” he says, “although the main exceptions are tulips and hyacinths.” Instead, Purnell suggests dwarf daffodils, which are “incredibly easy - they’ll perform well in semi-shade and will multiply readily.” There’s also a diverse range of varieties, of which Purnell says ‘Jack Snipe', 'W P Milner' and 'Hawera' are stand-outs.

Crocuses will also do well. Purnell suggests daintier species types such as varieties of C. tommasinianus and C. chrysanthus, and backs up Ireland-Jones’s recommendations of Ornithogalum nutans  (“They sing in light shade,”) and erythronium 'White Beauty' and 'Pagoda’, which do well for him in pots. “I leave them in their pots year round as they dislike disturbance,” he adds.

To span the season, Purnell suggests planting ground-covering perennials that will fill in for the rest of spring and into the summer. Epimediums, brunnera, hakonechloa, tiarella and Geranium macrorrhizum are all good options, the latter two thrive happily in pots on my balcony.

For fellow bulb rookies, the seasonally adept sorts at Seed Pantry filled their September box with alliums (my box included A. hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’; A. nigrum and A. caeruleum ) and daffodils (‘Lemon Beauty’, ‘Hawera’ and ‘Sailboat’ ) that take a lot of the variety-hunting work out of the process.

There are many, of course, who ascribe to the theory that bulbs in containers need replacing every year. I’m not always organised enough to remove the old ones, but it’s true that fewer emerge the second spring after planting. This year, I’m topping up my Anemone blanda for good measure – and will wait and see what becomes of the alliums.

Purnell says that best results are always guaranteed by planting fresh bulbs – “the largest you can find or afford” – in pots every year. But, with the exception of tulips and forced bulbs, “many bulbs will multiply and flower again in successive years, even in pots.” This I can attest to: in spite of all odds, some hyacinth bulbs picked up from Columbia Road flower market always seem to return with a vengeance in my troughs. What’s crucial is post-blooming care - I like to leave foliage until it has properly faded before tidying back and Purnell recommends a high potassium liquid feed, such as tomato fertiliser, to re-energise them. If you’re stuck for space, he says daffodils , crocus and irises can be tipped out, dried off and stored in the dry and dark before replanting again.

After seeing a squirrel gleefully skip across the railings railings with a tulip bulb, only to burrow it in my neighbour’s window box, defences have been stepped up this year. Once the bulbs have gone in, I’ll be laying cut-to-size pieces of chicken wire just under the the soil to stop scrabbling, and sprinkling a potent mixture of cayenne and chilli powder on the surface as an extra measure. Purnell says wire or netting is “the only reliable method” he’s found. “The bulbs will obviously grow through this whilst making it fairly difficult for your average bushy tail to break in. However, grey squirrels were put on this planet to challenge and defy us gardeners!”

Most of my containers are filled with garlic bulbs, which is said to keep the critters away, but largely I’ve found these just sprout without deterring many squirrels (the greens are delicious in salad and with potatoes). Some swear by chilli sauce and tabasco, but they – along with chilli flakes - have an unpleasant trait of going mouldy in my pots.

As for that tulip – I look forward to seeing it bloom on my neighbour’s balcony.

Five best bulbs for shady containers

Ornithogalum nutans 'Pagoda'

Crocus tommasinianus

Narcissus 'Hawera'

Iris reticulata

Anenome blanda

Alice Vincent is the author of How to Grow Stuff: Easy, no-stress gardening for beginners. For more urban gardening, follow her on Instagram.com/noughticulture