Dutch irises with Tagetes lemmonii and daffodils in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

I would have to say that August is the very worst time of the year for my garden. With all my summer- and autumn-flowering plants cut back pretty hard, the property resembles something of a moonscape. 'This is the price I pay for a summer/autumn garden,' I tell myself disconsolately, hoping no visitors appear before it has all grown back, especially people who think spring = many flowers. Each year I wonder if indeed it will all grow back. What if this year is the year that it doesn't? This August seems particularly bad because I have removed some old, woody plants like Pentas and some Salvia that were past their use-by dates. Newly installed specimens look pathetically small and defenceless.

Potted daffodils in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Potted daffodils in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

However, last Friday I visited a friend's garden that held a solution to getting through these agonising 'sprinter' (late winter/early spring) weeks. My friend definitely has more permanent sprinter subjects than me, such as a gorgeous Magnolia and other delights, which make it look wonderful at this time, but each year she also buys batches of early-flowering bulbs, which she pops into beds and pots throughout the garden, which give bursts of brilliant, cheerful colour that excite the senses and add to the feeling that spring is here or at least near! At the end of spring, she simply composts most of them, because they are the sorts of bulbs that rarely reflower a second year in our Sydney climate, basically because our winters are too mild and our summers too hot, wet and humid.

Dutch irises in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Dutch irises in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

For these reasons, ages ago I had turned my back on these sorts of bulbs, figuring I shouldn't give them garden space if they weren't going to go on from year to year, and I focused on the sorts that could persist - mainly South African corms such as Babiana, Watsonia and Freesia, and some other tolerant bulbs such as snowflakes, bluebells and starflowers. However, after seeing my friend's garden, and how uplifting it was, I have decided that I will shamelessly copy her idea next year, to inject some colour and vitality into my doleful August garden!

Potted hyacinths in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Potted hyacinths in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Some of the varieties I enjoyed in her garden were stunningly blue Dutch irises, myriad daffodils, hyacinths, anemones and cyclamens. Tulips are also a possibility - along with hyacinths, they will need to spend a few weeks in the crisper section of your frig before being planted out in May. Most of these bulbs and corms enjoy well-drained, good soil in full sun, though potted cyclamens can grow in part-shade. They benefit from being regularly fertilized during their growing period. These plants all remind me of my early gardening self, when I found such joy in their flowers, before becoming more cynical and dismissive, because they wouldn't go on forever in Sydney gardens.

Potted cyclamen in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

Potted cyclamen in the garden of Maree Ross in Sydney

The concept can be extended to other seasons as well. My friend also plants a number of liliums each spring, and these bring colour and drama in summer. Some of these, in fact, will keep on going for a few years, but even if they are reefed out after the first year, they will have provided great pleasure. Huge numbers of these corms and bulbs don't have to be planted - but appearing here and there in garden beds or in pots, they can really have an impact.