Bulbs - General Information
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  (January) The bulbs I ordered from a school fund raiser arrived late in November and I never planted them. They have been in my cold garage and I was wondering if it is too late now to plant them. I hate to see them go to waste.

  By all means plant. Hopefully, your garage is cool enough to have given them some chilling hours. Bulbs need a minimum of 12 weeks of temperatures between 38 - 45 degrees before they can fully mature and stretch to their full height. Even if they don't reach maximum potential, they will come up and bloom. If you didn't plant, you would have wasted your money, since they would dry out before next season. The flowers may be a bit later than normal, but they should grow.

  (February) This past fall I purchased a variety of flower bulbs (tulips, crocus, and daffodils). I have had them stored in my basement all winter. I've always been told that they should be planted in the fall. The question is, can I still plant them in Feb. and March? I realize that they may not bloom. Will the fact that I live in the northern part of the state help or hinder the growth of the plants.

  Boy, you are late. I wonder how cold your basement gets? Spring bulbs need a chilling period below at least 50 degrees for a period of 12 to 16 weeks. But, they need to get planted, or they will be lost forever. Plant them now, and see what happens. In a worse case scenario (other than dead) they will grow, but not much. The foliage will stay short and bunchy and so will any flower stalks. If they get plenty of sunlight and a little fertilizer, they should replenish their strength, and do well next spring. If they have been chilled some, they should grow taller, and hopefully have a flower you can enjoy. The more northern you are, the better for chilling hours, but at this point, I don't know how much it will help.

  (March) There is an un-irrigated area of my yard between the driveway and property line in which I would like to plant bulbs. Will bulbs flourish with rain water only? If so, which ones, and when should I plant them?

  Most of the spring bulbs will do very well, since we get ample moisture during their growth period -- winter through spring, and they prefer it to be dry during their dormant summer months. Daffodils, tulips, crocus, and hyacinths should all do well, and are all best planted in the fall.

  (March) When are bulbs such as tulip really supposed to be set out? We dug ours up in the fall because they were getting so thick and didn't do well last year. We wanted to split them up and replant, but have not yet replanted.

  All spring blooming bulbs should be up and growing now, many are even in bloom. Spring blooming plants need a chilling period in order for the stems to elongate and reach their full potential. They get that naturally in the ground with fall planting. It is too late to plant them outdoors now and expect any results. If you have bulbs that you have not planted, you can refrigerate them and force them into bloom after a chilling period of around 8 - 10 weeks. That way you could at least enjoy them. I doubt they will hold over for fall planting this year. In the future, if your bulbs are too crowded, dig and divide them after bloom, and replant with the leaves attached. That way during their after-bloom, green growing time, they can get enough energy to set flowers for the following spring.

  (May) Is it ok to plant gladioli bulbs now and can one feed other bulbs now?

  Yes, it should be a fine time to plant gladioli bulbs. They are summer bulbs and should enjoy the warm soil conditions. As to fertilizing other bulbs, do you mean summer or spring bulbs. Summer bulbs such as canna's, caladiums and elephant ears would benefit from a dose of fertilizer, but the spring bulbs should be on their way out, so no more fertilizer for them.

  Help!! My spring bulbs are confused. They must think it is spring, because they are beginning to emerge already, and we haven’t even started winter yet. Should I cut off the exposed leaves, or cover them up? Will this ruin my chances for flowers next spring?

  This is a common question this season. Many people planted early, and with the extended warm weather and ample moisture, many bulbs began growing. Whatever you do, don’t cut the foliage off. This is the only set of leaves the bulbs have, and they won’t grow any new ones. Lightly mulch the foliage now, and wait for a killing frost. Then for more frost sensitive plants, mulch deeper. Daffodils, tulips and hyacinths are fairly cold tolerant. Grape hyacinths often have foliage all winter and need no extra protection. I have had reports of peonies emerging, and they would need more protection. Don’t mulch too heavily before it does get cold, or it may encourage even more growth in the bulbs.

  I have bulbs coming up already!! I must have planted them too soon. Should I cut the foliage off and let them resprout later, or what type of care should I give them?

  Whatever you do, don’t cut the foliage off. Bulbs only have one set of leaves and flower buds. Cutting them back would ruin your bulbs. It is not that unusual to have some foliage appearing out of the ground now. Mulch the leaves lightly and be prepared to cover them during extremely cold weather. Bulb foliage is very tolerant of cold weather, but occasionally, we will have some foliage burn. Last year was a bad year for spring bulbs, with the leaves being burned and the bloom period greatly reduced by late freezes.

  I still haven’t planted the bulbs I bought this fall. Have I wasted my money or is there hope for them yet? How long can I wait to plant? The problem has been that because of so much rain, I haven’t been able to get out and work in the soil. I have the bulbs stored in my refrigerator, per your advice, but wonder how long they can stay there?

  Plant as soon as the ground is workable. You are meeting their chilling requirements by storing them in the refrigerator, but unless they are in soil, they won’t begin to establish a root system and begin growth. Therefore, they will bloom later, the later you get them in the ground. If you have room, you could pot them in moist soil, and store these pots in the refrigerator to help speed up the rooting and growth, and then transfer them outside as soon as the soil dries up.

  I recently got a mixed garden of blooming spring bulbs. While some are blooming outdoors now, these have been forced for inside bloom. What should I do with the bulbs after they finish blooming? When can I safely plant them outside? 

Once bulbs have been forced, I typically throw them away. You can plant them outside now and allow the foliage to die down naturally, or give them bright light indoors and allow the leaves to die down. If you can keep the foliage green and growing for at least six weeks, plus fertilize the plants to help replenish the energy, you may have flowers next spring. It may only come back leaves, but the year after it should bloom. Tulips often don’t repeat well under good conditions, so I wouldn’t waste my time with them.

  I was outside looking over my flower buds during a recent warm spell, and noticed to my dismay that many of my spring blooming bulbs are already up. What has caused this and what do I do about it?

  It is not unusual for spring bulbs to begin poking their heads up in January. Many of the earlier bulbs bloom starting in February. The only thing to do is keep some mulch handy to protect them from extremely cold winter weather. Bulb foliage is tough and very winter hardy, but we have had some burned tips on bulbs in the spring following ice storms. Whatever you do, don’t cut the foliage back, since the bulbs only contain one set of leaves.

  My bulbs are up and almost blooming (eeK)!! Will mulch smother them or keep them from growing more, or prevent blooming?

  Many, if not most bulbs are up and moving now, but I haven't seen any flower buds showing color yet. Mulching now that cooler weather is here should be fine. Don't get carried away, a light covering should be fine, but I doubt it will make much difference in their growing. The foliage should be very winter hardy, flower buds showing color is a different story. Hopefully that is still a month away or more. If we continue to get such warm weather in between the cool, it might speed things up

  I have a large tiered flower garden. There are a few tulips here and there. Can I move the bulbs so they will be more concentrated? If so, when would be the best time to do this? I have a lot of tall daffodils that are very beautiful throughout the bed. What can I plant around as they die back to improve the looks? Thanks for your help.

  You can move the bulbs either as they finish blooming, or as they die back. If you move them early, be sure to allow the foliage to die down naturally. If you move them at the end of the season, you can cut the foliage off when you move them, and simply replant the bulb. Do be aware that many tulip varieties do not repeat bloom well. Often subsequent years have smaller flowers. To camouflage the daffodil foliage plant summer annuals amidst the leaves. This should brighten up the spot. When the six week green growing period has passed, cut the leaves and let the flowers fill in.

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