We were entertained and captivated by an excellent talk, ’Bulbs for Adventurous Gardeners.’ The speaker was Anne Barnard from Essex. The speaker and her husband run the nursery Rose Cottage Plants, specialising in unusual bulbs.

She introduced some interesting bulbs of which some provide pleasure on wintry days. In December the dwarf Crocus laevigatus ‘Fontenayi’ flowers with Narcissus Rijnveld Early Sensation not far behind. The scented, stunningly striped Crocus imperati ‘de Jager’ flowers in mid-February.

Iris recticulata ‘Sunshine’, a bright yellow, reliable flowerer, an ivory one ‘north Star’ with a wonderful fragrance plus ‘Sea Breeze ’and ‘Frozen Planet’ are all early flowerers.

At the end of the talk we all had a long list of tempting bulbs including Crocus, Ipheion, Narcissus, Fritillarias, Erythroniums, Tulips and Alliums to provide long interest throughout the summer. We were also given tips on how to give each type of bulb the correct growing and planting conditions

The couple had brought some treats for the audience to buy and certainly went away with some empty trays.