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Tuesday 3 November 2009

The Big Bulb Plant

When I first got my allotment I went wild about Allium Purple Sensation as a way of giving the plot focus, colour, height. The following year there was no stopping me. Unfortunately once they had finally died down, there was no stopping both my fork and the squirrels digging up dormant bulbs. But it turns out to have been fortuitous. Rather than dig them back in, I stored them. Now I see The Eden Project and Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Centre have joined forces to encourage us to brighten up public spaces in the spring. The chosen bulb for this year is Allium Purple Sensation and I can strongly recommend it to cheer the dullest corner. It’s late to track down popular bulbs but Peter Nyssen Ltd (excellent value for money) can still offer the decorative and long-lasting Allium Christophii and Allium Aflatunense. The Garden Centre Group, whose Chief Executive, Nicholas Marshall, supports the current allotment movement to the extent of suggesting universities should put aside land for them, has Purple Sensation still in stock in most of its garden centres. Do you have a communal space in your allotments which needs jollying up… are you a dead-of-night guerrilla gardener... is there an abandoned raised bed at the end of your street, as there is in mine? It would make all the difference if you popped a few in.

www.peternyssen.com

www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk

www.thebigbulbplant.com