Winter blues are set to explode into spring yellows, reds, purples and oranges as the Eden Project sees more than a million bulbs flower for its fourth Bulb Mania celebration.
Eden will be awash with successive waves of colour as the daffodils flower in March, the tulips in April and the lilies in May in what is believed to be Britain's biggest annually-planted show of spring flowers.
Vast outdoor displays will be complemented by a huge colour-graded bed of tulips in the Warm Temperate Biome as well as a connoisseur’s collection of species such as Cyclamen and Scilla from the Mediterranean and delicate Lachenalia and Babiana from South Africa.
Other great showpieces this year will include a river of grape hyacinths sweeping across the roof of Eden's Link Building between the world-famous Biomes and stunning displays in the Visitor Centre and along the Grand Staircase leading down to the arena.
There's a rich history of daffodil-growing in Cornwall and Eden will be celebrating this just as the Dutch celebrate tulips with Keukenhof "“ the biggest bulb garden in the world. Cornwall is home to a diversity of long-established varieties such as Tete-a-tete, Carlton, Rosemoor Gold and the project's very own Eden Gold.
Eden's expert horticulturalists were helped in the gargantuan task of planting such a huge number of bulbs by visitors to the project who were invited to pot a bulb each during the autumn. Given the sloping nature of Eden's pit, some of the gardeners had to abseil down the beds to plant the bulbs, a practice that has been dubbed 'extreme gardening'.
For those gardeners who want to create their own version of Bulb Mania, Eden will be selling a wide selection of bulbs including daffodils from Fentongollan Farm near Truro.
Tom Keay, Eden's Temperate Supervisor, said: "Bulb Mania is Eden at its most colourful. With more than a million bulbs flowering it's like someone's taken a giant paintbrush and banished the murk of the winter with vibrant splashes of colour.
"Bulb Mania 2007 is going to be even better than previous years "“ we've been planting more than three times the bulbs we had in the first year and it's now the largest annually-planted spring flower display in the UK. If you've never seen Eden during Bulb Mania, you're in for a treat!"
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