PotsandPlots

I seem to have run aground on the book front in the last couple of weeks. I’m not sure why but in the latter half of 2025, I’ve struggled to articulate my thoughts on the things I’ve read. I’m still reading, but the pile of unreviewed books grows ever larger.

That said, I have reviewed an excellent new book on GeekDad. Exploring the Universe by Isabel Thomas and Sarah Gillingham, is a wonderful journey through everything Space. Informative text backed up by eye-catching infographic style illustrations, it really is a perfect non-fiction book.

November has been both dry an unseasonably warm in my part of the UK, so I managed to do some unexpcted pottering in the garden. There is still some colour left, both autumnal and late flowers. It’s been quite the tonic.

I’ve been busy digging up potted nemesias, with the aim of over wintering them in our garden room. I love nemesia, sometimes they overwinter ok outside, but this year I wanted to see if I could start to grow one or two year on year and see how they end up.

I have also been planting tulips. The last of my spring bulbs. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been reading Sarah Raven’s Year Full of Pots and I have taken inspiration from that with my planting. (It was in this book, I read it’s best to plant tulips in November because of a fungus they can get in warmer autumn weather. – I’m not sure this November has been any cooler than October, but I’ve never had a problem before, so hopefully will be ok.)

I may have gone a little overboard with my bulbs this year – the deals on them were essentially “3 for 2” which means where I only wanted to buy two sets, I’ve ended up with 3.

What have I planted?

For tulips, I’ve gone for a repeat of this year’s bulbs. (See image above)

A black/purple and organe combo “Chocolate Orange” that looked really striking. They’re Tulipa Ballerina and Tulipa Queen of the Night.

As recommended by A Year Full of Pots, I have tried to add a “pot-topper” to them – a layer of miniature irises – Iris Reticulata.

It’s with the narcissi that I really went mad. Not for nothing does my wife refer to “the siren Sarah Raven!” (Though I ordered my bulbs from various different places as Raven’s website is not for the faint of wallet.)

I’ve cleared a patch of ground previously beset by weeds and planted a mix of full size of Daffodils. I’ve also added some snowdrops into the mix here.

For pots – I ended up purchasing way too many terrocotta bowls as well as some galvansed zinc planters. I have no scientific data, but slugs and snails seem to dislike my metal pots, so I’ve collected quite a few over the years.

Daffodil varieties purchased for 2026.

Tête-à-tête – a classic miniature daffodil. A rich yellow that we all associate with daffodils.

Narcissus ‘Kokopelli’ – Another classic yellow daffodil. One with mulitiple heads. It apparently has a lovely scent. I have no sense of smell, but I try to be mindful of the rest of the family and think about how the garden smells as well as looks.

Narcissus ‘Sailboat’ – A white narcissus with “butter” trumpets, I just really liked the look of this one.

Narcissus ‘Canaliculatus’ – Probably wins the award for the funniest name, which I only realised when I was telling my wife out loud what I’d bought. This is another white Narcissus that is described by Raven as “100% perennial” and that it will “gradually spread and naturalise where ever you plant it, even spreading to fill a pot.” I’m hoping my canaliculatus will spread throughout the garden in the next few years, although for now I’ve only planted it in pots.

So that’s it. My first garden post and my first attempt at some serious bulb planting. I shall report back how it’s going in the spring. (I can confirm, that in one of the pots, thanks to the excessively mild October/November some shoots are already poking through.)