Winter-flowering bulbs to plant in autumn

Bulbs are great because they can be grown in any garden situation - in pots, borders, rock gardens and grass. They burst from the ground, dying back again in the course of just one season, injecting highlights of interest into the garden when more permanent plantings are lacking. Here's a taster to whet your appetite for bulbs year round.

Bulbs for winter: plant in autumn

The small collection of winter-flowering bulbs can bring the winter garden back to life. These blooms take advantage of the light let through by leafless tree canopies in order to flower.

● Cyclamen coum (above: bottom) provides the summer garden with attractive green leaves ambled with silver, but it's in winter when it truly begins to perform, adding vivid splashes of carmine pink to the garden.

● January and February also see the arrival of the winter aconite Eranthis hyemalis (above: top), ideal for planting under deciduous trees and shrubs.

● Great pools of colour can be created with generous groupings of winter-flowering crocus. From late November to late January, see Crocus laevigatus (C. laevigatus ‘Fontenayi' is one of the best), C. angustifolius and C. sieberi ‘Bowles White' bloom. But they are intrepid, too; use robust C. tommasinianus to stud through a winter lawn.

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