Reply
Thu 18 Oct, 2007 11:07 am
About a month ago I bought 40 Darwin tulip bulbs, 40 daffodils, and about 50 crocus. They've been in my lettuce crisper, nice and chilled ever since since.
I'm planning on planting them en masse on Dec 2 (my birthday by the way, so you better not forget), but I'm thinking I want a more spectacular show in the Spring, and want to get more.
Is it too late if I chill them right away for the next 6 weeks?
Oh
also
.I'll be planting them in a newly tilled bed, that just has some Fall annuals in it right now. After the tulips, et al end and I cut them back, I'll be planting low ground cover perinneals in this area
.stone crop, hen and chicks, mondo grass.
My related question is
.the following year, when the bulbs come back up (or hopefully some/most of them
I'm not going to bother to dig them up) will that in any way get in the way of the ground cover that by that time will be established there?
I don't think it too late, at all. Don't they need a good freeze to bloom the following spring, though?
I never dig up my bulbs and groundcover won't interfere at all with the tulips coming up, and vice versa.
A point - squirrels love to dig up bulbs for winter meals. I would also mulch the area very well to keep some of the rain off because bulbs are notorious for going to mush.
This is the time to plant them on the West Coast. The ground should be cold. I don't know about the zone you're in, but if it's warm, then December 2 might be just fine.
Another Sagittarius, eh?
damn squirrels.
Oh yeah, I've got a good amount of mulch down, and will be adding more.
I'm really glad it won't interfere with the ground cover.
Roger, we always get a couple of good freezes here. In the Spring there's a lot of homes that have tulips.
Yeah, it's starting to get nice here, down into the 60's at night, but warms up to 85-87 during the day.
In Winter, it gets into the 30's at night and 50's during the day...with a hard freeze or 2 into the 20's.
Yes, a Sag...
eastern lake ontario :
will be planting some "recycled" bulbs from the indoor flower pots this weekend .
as long as you can work the ground : plant them !
just make sure they are planted at the right depth !
i usually put some bloodmeal over the planted bulbs to discourage the squirrels - it seems to work .
hbg
Re: Too late to buy tulip bulbs?
Chai wrote:I'm planning on planting them en masse on Dec 2 (my birthday by the way, so you better not forget)
Can you remind me again during the last week of November, Chai?
Bloodmeal?
I don't even know what that is, but it sounds like a good idea especially if it's squirrel blood. I'll pick some up.
Oh Wally, you always remember everyone's birthday. I'm the one you have to remind.
see link :
BLOODMEAL - SQUIRREL REPELLANT
at the same time it's an excellent high-nitrogen fertilizer .
you can probably buy it cheaper at a farm store or co-op , rather than the brand name .
hbg
Thanks hamburger....
However, I just stopped off at a garden center on the way home yesterday and bought more bulbs, and a bag of blood meal.
Now....I just wait a few weeks.
Let's see....I've got:
120 tulips - 3 different types
80 daffodils - 2 different types
100 crocus
I've got an area 12' x 5' (60 square feet), I'll plant them in.
It's gonna rock.
200 BULBS ! WOW !
the sqirrels will probably wear some "anti-bloodmeal" protective suits while they are testing your bulbs - ONE-BY-ONE :wink:
just kidding !
get prepared for the spring bloom !
hbg
I always use bonemeal - not squirrel-repellent but bug-repellent. I'll have to check out the bloodmeal next time I have a garden.
Good luck, Chai. I've planted about the same number of bulbs a few years and been so disappointed the second year when only a scattering came up. No sign of squirrels digging, but maybe the rain flattened down the dirt again. More likely they went mushy from all our rain.
I hope you have more success than I did.
Oh, and do NOT ever put your cut daffs in with any other flower. There's something in their stems that wilts the other flowers!
You know, when I was first looking on line, to check out prices, I was thinking this venture sounded kind of pricey.
Then, When I was in Lowes for something else, I noticed the display with the first batch I bought. The tulips and daffs were all 40 bulbs for about $6, and the crocus, about $6 for 25....So total for the bulbs I spent less than $60.00....
For a months spectacular, I don't think that's a lot.
It's a great way to meet your neighbors up and down the street too.
While I was doing the prep of the garden and planter, I must have gotten on a 5 minute a shot conversation basis with a couple dozen people in the hood.
Come the Spring, I'll sit out there with a pitcher of ice tea and some Jiffy Pop and have a party every night between 6 and 7:15
Ya'll come.
Ha - Wait until you get tired of the 'garden variety'
and go for the gusto with the bulbs that are spectacular and are 2/$7, etc
Post some pics next spring when you have them all a-blooming.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace