Beginner’s Guide to Bulbs – What to do in the Fall
Here’s the quick-and-dirty guide to bulbs, the fall version. It starts with this basic info: that you plant NOW for bulbs that bloom in the spring – most bulbs.
BUYING AND STORING
- The bigger the bulb, the better. Though when grown en masse to be seen from a distance, it’s fine to buy bags of smaller, cheaper ones.
- The earlier you buy them, the greater the availability.
- Between the time you buy them and plant them, store them in a cool, dry place. Refrigerators are fine.
CHOOSING
- If you’re looking for bulbs that will reliably return year after year, look for the words “naturalizing” and “perennializing.”
- Got critters? These bulbs are not bothered by squirrels or deer: daffodils, hyacinths, alliums, fritillaria, iris, scilla, snowdrop, grape hyacinth and winter aconite.
- Sure, you love the familiar daffodils and tulips but there are tons more spring-flowering bulbs. Try some lesser known ones this year! For ideas, check the Pinterest board for “minor bulbs.”
PLANTING
- When: Best after the first killing frost but before the ground freezes hard – about mid-October in the suburbs most years. Tulips especially are best planted later, into November, and December is fine if the ground isn’t frozen. (Even daffodils are okay to plant late in December as long as the ground isn’t frozen and the bulb is firm and not discolored. Better late than not at all!)
- How: Dig a hole 3 times the height of the bulb and place the bulb base down. If the soil is mostly clay, that could cause rotting, so improve soil first with pine fines, Leafgro or other clay-buster. (Easiest is to dig and improve an area large enough for as many as a dozen bulbs at a time.) Some local experts recommend bulb fertilizing at planting; some don’t. Water well.
- When planting bulbs that are loved by squirrels (like tulips), you can protect them by placing wide-mesh chicken wire on top of the hole, just under the mulch.
EXTRA TIPS
- Great design advice from Adrian Higgins in the Washington Post: standard planting versus naturalized planting.
- On GardenRant, bulb-lover Elizabeth Licata thinks”Bulbs are no big deal” and demonstrates in that short blog post how she plants 75 bulbs in one hole! Easy-peasy.
Posted by Susan Harris.
Photo credits: daffodils in park, crocus in field, grape hyacinth, snowdrop, Siberian squill.
trying to find some bearded iris bulbs can’t believe everyone is sold out, when do they
go on sale, where can I buy them in the DC area? Thanks Mary