TeamGIB Mike - writer of our monthly gardening tips - has some great advice on planting Eranthis - he says: - If you saw my blog regarding Snowdrops earlier this year, you will know that as well as planting bulbs, you can also plant them when the leaves are present (in the green), about now. You can do this with Eranthis (Winter Aconite).
I therefore decided to buy some plants and have just planted some. I took advice on this purchase from Sharon at Gee Tee bulbs, where I have purchased bulbs in the past. She ensured I received what I needed as well as providing helpful information.
The plants arrived yesterday (see picture). I wanted to get them planted as soon as possible, so got down to it this morning. I was fortunate that a friend gave me some leaf mound, which was perfect to mix with my not so free draining soil, to help drainage further, you can also add some horticultural grit (see picture).
If you have no leaf mould, compost can be used. The plants were in small clumps in the box, so I split these into smaller clumps.
I could have split these down to single plants/bulbs, but I preferred to leave them as in the picture. I then planted them individually with a small trowel, but if you have many to plant, you can make a slit with a spade and plant several along the slit. They should be planted at the same depth that they were growing before.
Final picture shows the result. As you can see, I used these plants to bulk up an area that I had previously planted with Aconite bulbs in the Autumn.
For more of Mike's Gardening Tips - follow our social media channels for suggestions on what to do each month throughout the year - and don't forget to get your entries in for Guildford in Bloom 2022