Underplanting Trees & Shrubs

Tulipa ‘Double Surprise’ is a beautifully poised, late-spring tulip with sumptuous, peony-flowered blooms. Each ivory-white petal is artistically brushed and splashed with pink, with a faint suggestion of green in the mix—an effortlessly chic choice for refined spring displays.

Held on sturdy stems above neat grey-green foliage, it brings a composed elegance to beds and borders and is equally at home in handsome patio containers. Plant in autumn for a polished flourish through April and May, and enjoy its quietly opulent double flowers at close quarters.

• Flowering: April–May
• Colour: White with pink splashes and light green tones
• Form: Peony Flowered (double)
• Height: 50cm
• Spread: 15cm
• Bulb size supplied: 10–12cm

Scilla siberica 'Alba' is the quietly sophisticated, white-flowered form of Siberian squill. Each bulb produces neat stems carrying nodding, bell-shaped blooms above slender green leaves—an exquisitely simple way to brighten the first weeks of spring.

Superb for naturalising, it threads effortlessly through lawns, settles happily beneath shrubs, and looks particularly poised in gravel and rock gardens. Plant in generous drifts for a calm, luminous effect that returns year after year.

• Refined white, bell-shaped flowers for early spring elegance
• Ideal for naturalising in grass and informal planting schemes
• Fully hardy and easy to grow
• Pollinator friendly spring forage

Scilla siberica is one of those quietly brilliant early-spring bulbs that makes a garden look effortlessly considered. Its vivid blue, nodding flowers are carried on fine stems above narrow green leaves, creating a light, natural effect that sits beautifully in grass, beneath shrubs, or among gravel and stone.

Ideal for naturalising, this small bulb is best planted in generous drifts for a painterly sweep of colour just as the season begins to wake.

• Colour: Blue (Purples & Blues)
• Flowering: March–April
• Height: 20cm
• Best for: naturalising, grass, gravel and rock gardens, containers, underplanting shrubs
• Pollinator friendly: Yes

Narcissus 'Carlton' is a steadfast classic: a large-cupped daffodil in clear, sunny yellow, finished with a slightly paler trumpet. It has a pleasingly robust presence in the spring garden, returning year after year with an air of effortless reliability.

Exceptionally versatile, it settles happily into borders and underplanting, and looks equally smart in pots by the front door. For a more natural look, scatter through grass and allow the clumps to build over time for an unforced sweep of colour in March and April.

• Flowering: March–April
• Height: 50cm
• Bulb size: 12/14
• Hardiness: Fully Hardy
• Growing skill: Easy
• Also noted for: AGM, Pollinator Friendly, Deer Resistant

Muscari armeniacum is the sort of spring bulb one comes to rely upon: neat, clump-forming foliage topped with dense, upright spires of violet-blue bells, each delicately tipped in white. Thread it through borders for a crisp early lift, tuck it beneath shrubs and roses, or let it quietly naturalise in grass where it will settle in and return with increasing charm.

Exceptionally easy to grow and fully hardy, it is a refined little workhorse for pots, pathways and rock gardens—particularly handsome when planted in generous drifts.

• Colour: Violet-blue with white tips
• Flowering: March to May
• Height: 20cm
• Best for: Containers, borders, underplanting, naturalising in grass