Flower Bulb Lasagna

Attention all gardeners! You can enjoy the earliest flowers of spring even longer. How? By creating an appetizing flower bulb lasagna. But you don’t need the kitchen for this - it’s all done in the garden.   

The recipe is simple: plant various layers of flower bulbs one over another just like you do when making the famous Italian pasta casserole. This dish requires some time for all the flavours to come together, so start off in Autum. Next Spring, you’ll be enjoying month after month of wonderful flowers when the various kinds of flower bulbs bloom in succession. Springtime on a platter!

How to make a flower bulb lasagna?

Preparing your flower bulb lasagna is simple. The ingredients you need are:

• generously sized pots or a balcony container
• potting compost 
• Spring flower bulbs.

Make sure the bottom of the pot or balcony container has holes in it so that any excess water can drain away.

1. Put a 10cm layer of potting mix and compost in the bottom of your pot
2. Next comes the first layer of flower bulbs.
3. For a nice full display later, they can be planted almost side by side.
4. Cover this first layer with about 2.5 inches of potting compost and then plant the next layer. These flower bulbs can also be planted closely together, but leave a half inch or so between them for the young leaves to emerge.
5. Scatter potting compost over the second layer of flower bulbs and then plant the third and last layer.
6. Finally, fill the pot up with potting compost. Tamp the potting soil down a little and give the flower bulbs a nice drink of water. 

Tip

Lasagna planting can also be done in the garden soil and will work just as well.

Recipes:

• A Potful of Joy

• A Potful of Today's Natural Look

• Wild Beauty Without a Pot

A potful of joy

Since flowers are available in every color of the rainbow, you can make your creation as cheerful as you want. To create your potful of joy, use these flower bulbs:

• Layer 1 (bottom layer): Tulip London,  'Tulip Flaming Parrot', 'Tulip Ad Rem' and 'Tulip Purple Prince'
• Layer 2 (middle layer): Hyacinth Fondant, and Daffodils 'Dick Wilden', 'Tete a Tete' and 'Tahiti'
• Layer 3 (top layer):  Anemone Blanda's and Crocus Pickwick, plus  a mix of crocus species.

Potful of Today's Natural Look

Flower bulb lasagna is perfect for a luxurious setting that includes natural materials. Raw concrete and unfinished wood set off flowering bulbs to perfection. To create this potful of today’s natural look, use these flower bulbs:

• Layer 1 (bottom layer): tulips (Tulipa) 'Black Parrot', 'Flaming Evita', 'Havran', 'Queen of Night' and 'Snow Crystal'
• Layer 2 (middle layer): hyacinths (Hyacinthus) 'Carnegie’ and 'White Pearl’ and daffodils (Narcissus) 'Actaea' and 'Recurvus'
• Layer 3 (top layer): anemone (Anemone blanda) 'Blue Shades’) and anemones (Anemone coronaria)'Mount Everest’ and ‘Bride’, dwarf iris (Iris reticulata) 'Katharina Hodgkin', checkered fritillary(Fritillaria meleagris), crocus (Crocus) 'Ard Schenk' and glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa 'Alba')

Wild Beauty Without a Pot

You don’t always need a pot to make a flower lasagna - this recipe will also work in the garden soil. All you need is a spot in the garden to put the layers of your lasagna together. To prepare your wild beauty without a pot, use the following flower bulbs:

• Layer 1 (bottom layer): tulips (Tulipa) 'Boston' and 'Green Wave'
• Layer 2 (middle layer): hyacinth (Hyacinthus) 'Blue Jacket’ and daffodils (Narcissus) 'Ice King' and 'Sir Winston Churchill'
• Layer 3 (top layer): anemone (Anemone blanda) 'Blue Shades', anemone (Anemone coronaria) 'Lord Lieutenant', grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum), dwarf iris (Iris reticulata) 'Harmony' and Siberian squill (Scilla siberica)