Last Updated on August 6, 2024 by Suttons Horticultural Team
If you haven’t already planted your spring bulbs for next year, autumn is the best time to get busy with it. For a shortcut to a stunning display, why not try professionally curated, pre-planted spring bulb trays? Suitable for borders and containers, these bulb trays are simply dropped into the soil at the correct depth and covered over.
Planning to buy more spring blooms? Browse our full range of spring flowering bulbs for inspiration.
How to choose spring bulbs
With such an enormous number of spring bulbs to choose from, it can be quite a challenge to settle on a planting scheme. When planning a border, you’ll want to choose bulbs which grow to different heights – alliums, for example, grow tall to provide structure and provide a backdrop for daffodils and tulips. For a woodland garden, it’s best to go for drifts of shorter bluebells, snowdrops, or crocuses.
If you’re planting spring bulbs in containers, you’ll need to think about height as well as the colour palette. When choosing your bulbs, go for different tones within a narrow range – reds, pinks, and whites, for example. Alternatively, go for bold contrasts like blue and orange, or purple and yellow.
How to use pre-planted bulb trays in containers
If you haven’t the time or the flair for putting together spectacular spring displays, garden-ready bulb trays are an easy solution. These specially selected arrangements are set into self-composting cardboard trays (24 cm in diameter) and are ready to go straight into the appropriate-sized container. Curated for colour and arranged to make the most of different sized blooms, they also make a gorgeous gift for friends or loved ones. To plant your tray, simply dig a hole or part-fill a pot with compost, pop it in, cover it over, water, and you’re done. Here are five of the most popular collections to try:
1. Narcissus & Scilla pre-planted bulb tray: A riotous display of bright yellow and orange contrasted with cool blue, this tray contains 7 Narcissus ‘Tete a Tete’ and 12 Scilla ‘Siberica’.
2. Alliums collection: This absolutely stunning collection is made up of Allium ‘Aflatunense Purple’ and Allium ‘Neopolitan White’ and contains everything you need for an elegant patio display.
3. Tulip and crocus collection: Containing 7 Tulip ‘Kaufmanniana Scarlet Baby’ bulbs and 12 Crocus ‘Ruby Giant’ bulbs this collection offers a fiery feast for the eyes.
4. Tulip ‘Purple Prince’ and ‘Muscari latifolium’ collection: This stunning mix consists of a luscious combination of pink tulips and lovely broad-leaved grape hyacinths.
5. Tulip ‘Royal Virgin’ & anemone blue collection: This beautiful arrangement of Tulip ‘Purple Prince’ and Anemone ‘Blue Mix’ gets spring off to a sumptuous start.
Whether you’re looking for a nice gift or just keen to fill empty patio containers, our spring bulb trays offer a perfect solution. For more information on planting and caring for bulbs, our guide to the best expert advice on growing spring-flowering bulbs is a great place to start.
