Bulbs found at bottom of potted plant

[Zsara]

Edited to try add photos now bulbs planted out,  but can't figure out how to attach. Can anyone advise? 
I've tried all the little icons in the menu.

Now planted out, they look different types of plants.  Some have long, sword shaped leaves, others are more stocky sword shaped with round red tips. 


Hello there, I'm new to PBS. I stumbled upon this website when I googled "mystery bulbs"

I discovered t

hese white/cream bulbs in several pots when I was emptying spent compost in late summer/early autumn. They are not anything to do with the plants that were growing in the pot. There were between 10 and 15 in some pots. Was very very bizarre. Hubby said maybe an animal buried them, but that's impossible.

I threw them all in one pot and forgot about them until I spotted leaves growing.
Most bulbs are fairly uniform in size. Some of the leaves have a red tinge along the edge.

Is it too early growth wise for anyone to identify?
I'm in the north of England, UK if that helps.

Many thanks

[CG100]

There are quite a few things that they could be at this stage but most likely, simply due to bulb colour and how common they are in the UK would be what are commonly called grape hyacinth - two or three species get this name in the UK. Several forms can be (very) invasive.
Less likely might be Ipheon.
With nothing covering them, the bulbs might normally be nearer to white if buried. Snowdrops have white bulbs, but I am unaware of any that have any red tint to leaves.

They should flower very shortly, whatever they are, and all will be revealed.

[Martin Bohnet]

To me it could be most species in Scilloideae, including but not limited to grape hyacinths/ muscari - several Scilla species are freely seeding around and quick to reach flowering size, as are Hyacinthoides. On the other hand I'd exclude Ipheion as their leaves are more strap-shaped and parallel - and would possibly give themselves away through a faint garlic scent.

[CG100]

Chionodoxa is a good fit to bulbs and leaves.

The common forms can seed around happily and although they can spread widely in ideal conditions, they don't make the dense clumps that some grape hyacinth do, which can smother other plants.

[Zsara]

Many thanks for all your replies. I understand how the wind can blow seeds and spores but don't understand how a dozen bulbs could end up/grow at the bottom of deep plant pots that were empty, filled with fresh compost and totally unrelated (to the bulbs) plants grown in them from spring through to autumn - included dahlias, astrantia, lupins, eremus

It's all very strange and a mystery to me. More than the whole eggs I kept finding in pots 😅 until I googled it

I guess I'll plant the bulbs on in bigger pots and wait to be surprised  

[CG100]

Eggs in pots is usually crows, hoarding food, probably magpies.
I have seen foxes blamed, but I don't believe a word of it.

The bulbs will be a few years old, so they did not arrive as seed. I also did not realise that the pots had been filled from empty by you, rather than bought, ready-planted, from a nursery.

All of the guesses at identity grow with bulbs at or very close to the soil surface, so for any animal to find them would be no major challenge. "Hiding" them deep into a pot is more difficult to explain.

[Zsara]

Eggs in pots is usually crows, hoarding food, probably magpies.
I have seen foxes blamed, but I don't believe a word of it.

The bulbs will be a few years old, so they did not arrive as seed. I also did not realise that the pots had been filled from empty by you, rather than bought, ready-planted, from a nursery.

All of the guesses at identity grow with bulbs at or very close to the soil surface, so for any animal to find them would be no major challenge. "Hiding" them deep into a pot is more difficult to explain.

(Edit to add - the eggs I discovered were chicken eggs not smaller birds.)
See, I could imagine a fox being able to carefully carry an egg, dig a hole with its paws then cover the egg. I can't imagine how a crow would fit an egg in its beak. We get jackdaws nesting under our guttering but I've not seen the larger crow variety. I planted the bulbs in a spare bed. They seem to be different types of plants. I can't figure out how to share photos in a quoted comment

[CG100]

(Edit to add - the eggs I discovered were chicken eggs not smaller birds.)

In that case, for sure - foxes.
Wild bird eggs would not be large or robust enough for a fox to bury them. Over the years I have even found the very occasional goose egg buried, again, obviously by foxes.

Jackdaws under guttering? Very unusual.
Jackdaws are hole-nesters and don't make a nest as such - they just build a thin cup of fine material. The cup can be in the bottom of a large hole in a tree, or jackdaws are famous for nesting in chimneys, and they are reasonably large; just a bit smaller than an average feral pigeon.
If using a chimney, they drop sticks down until one jams and then they add more to get the top of the pile nearish to the top of the chimney, and then build the cup in the top of the pile of sticks. This probably originated when they just had hollow trees to nest in.
The older houses in the village here must have a jackdaw nest in about every third chimney - there are clouds of them and pairs have long since chosen and been defending their pot for this year's family.

[Uli]

Eggs in pots is usually crows, hoarding food, probably magpies.
I have seen foxes blamed, but I don't believe a word of it.

The bulbs will be a few years old, so they did not arrive as seed. I also did not realise that the pots had been filled from empty by you, rather than bought, ready-planted, from a nursery.

All of the guesses at identity grow with bulbs at or very close to the soil surface, so for any animal to find them would be no major challenge. "Hiding" them deep into a pot is more difficult to explain.

(Edit to add - the eggs I discovered were chicken eggs not smaller birds.)
See, I could imagine a fox being able to carefully carry an egg, dig a hole with its paws then cover the egg. I can't imagine how a crow would fit an egg in its beak. We get jackdaws nesting under our guttering but I've not seen the larger crow variety. I planted the bulbs in a spare bed. They seem to be different types of plants. I can't figure out how to share photos in a quoted comment

Hello Zsara,
You cannot share photos in a ,,quote", it has to be a reply. Click on reply and below the text window there is a smaller window: click or drag files.....
If you click there a menu opens and you can choose the pictures you want to share depending where you have stored them. Then follow the instructions and that's it.

[Zsara]

They are definitely (to my untrained eye) at least 2 different plants. I think I remember some of the bulbs being slightly larger and flatter on one side. 
I guess we can't be certain until they flower. Will update again when they do 

[CG100]

A flat on one side of a bulb usually suggests that it is an offset - sometimes called a daughter bulb - rather than one grown from seed or artificial propagation method.

Just wait for flowers  

[Uli]

They are definitely (to my untrained eye) at least 2 different plants. I think I remember some of the bulbs being slightly larger and flatter on one side.
I guess we can't be certain until they flower. Will update again when they do 

The one with pinkish leaf tips looks like Allium to me. Have you crushed a leaf? Does it have an onion smell? Not sure if they are two different things. They are at different stages of development.