Gardeners World ran a series looking for Britains favourite top ten flowers. The BBC didn’t name specific varieties or offer much insight so I have added some Gardeners Tips

1. Lilies -  Soak in water water for an hour lay sideways on a bed of grit and shade the root run.
2. Roses – Encourage growth from the ground by planting deeper than they originally grew. Scented varieties Margaret Merrill and Rosa Westerland are worth looking out for
3. Daffodils – Feed with tomato fertilizer as they finish flowering and leave leaves for 6 weeks. Miniature DAffs are now very trendy but if you have the space go for King Alfred.
4. Fucshias – Pinch out the tip when they have 4-6 pairs of leaves. I grow Lady and Tom Thumb as well as Winston Churchill
5. Delphiniums – Treat for slugs in Autumn so they don’t feed on the roots all winter. The white varieties are not as strong as the trditional
6. Clematis – Plant 6 inches deeper tha the top of the rootball and keep roots cool.
7. Sweet Peas – Train the strongest side shoot not the main stem for show blooms.
8. Primulas – Mark plants in flower if you want to split them in June.
9. Poppies – Cut oriental poppy foliage right back after flowering and stake early.
10. Irises – Plant in groups of 3-5 to make quicker clumps.

Bulb historian Anna Pavord has also chosen her favourite top ten flowers and surprise, surprise they are all bulbs or corm based flowers. I have put them into alphabetical order

1. Arisaema candidissimum With hoods and spathes like wild Arums
2. Criniumx powellii with strappy foliage
3. Crocus sieberi sublimis Tricolour – strong, showy and an intense colour
4. Cyclamen hederifolium buy in flower to choose your leaf pattern and flower colour
5. Fritilliara meleagris The snakeshead for damp meadow areas
6. Hippeastrum papilo a creamy-green and maroon Amyrillis
7. Iris latifolia called the English Iris
8. Lilium x dalhansonii Mrs R O Backhouse quite a long name for a spotted lily of apricot-orange
9. Narsissus White Lady like an old wild variety
10. Tulip orphanidea Whittallii group with caramel pointed petals.

For more see Anna Pavord’s book ‘Bulbs’