WE MIGHT be feeling winter is on the way and it is time to hibernate, but for some plants their season of rest is over.

They are thinking spring is just around the corner. Look carefully right now and you will see signs of snowdrops and daffodils, their noses just pushing through to sniff the air.

These bulbs which are the earliest up, should have been the earliest in too.

But others, like tulips, can safely and successfully be planted a little later. We have only just got ours in the ground. Clearing up the mess after Levens’ deepest flooding in decades has seen to that. One year we didn’t plant them until way past Christmas and yet forgivingly they flowered just as well and bang on time too.

Planting depth rule of thumb for all bulbs is to sink them two and half times their diameter down into the soil.

A little deeper usually does them no harm. If left in from season to season, they reform bulbs at a depth that suits them.

Plant them too close to the surface, however, and without the support of soil up their stems they may topple over in later stormy weather.

‘Pointy’ end up is also a good idea but if you have thousands to plant, in practice it makes little difference. They all make their way to the surface, just the same.

Bulbs just about guarantee success, and for tulip planting at least, ‘better late than never’ works every time.