'TIS THE SEASON TO PLANT BULBS

By Patricia Diaz, from the October 2002 Newsletter

October is usually the perfect month for us to plant spring and summer blooming bulbs. The cooler fall temperatures have arrived and the bulbs need to be planted about six weeks before the ground freezes, so October is about right. If Mother Nature blesses us with a really warm "Indian" summer, just place your bulbs in the crisper section of the refrigerator to keep them cool until the weather cools and you can plant. Just don't let the bulbs get near apples or other fruits in the 'fridge as the gas emitted by fruits can be harmful to bulbs.

The most common bulbs to plant in fall are daffodils (narcissus), tulips, crocus and iris. The hyacinth varieties are very popular also. In this month's article, we'll cover how to plant the bulbs, how to keep furry critters from digging them up, and how to take care of the bulbs and flowers once they appear.

Spring/summer flowering bulbs can be planted by themselves, in beds, or in containers, and there are several kinds of bulbs that will naturalize over time, or multiply in your garden. If you miss the window of opportunity mentioned above, go ahead and plant your bulbs anyway. They might not have the root development that earlier-planted bulbs might have, but it would be much better than waiting until the next fall to plant. I remember one year planting bulbs on Thanksgiving Day in a snowstorm simply because I hadn't had the time before then to do it! The bulbs did fine the next spring.

Most bulbs come with planting instructions, but if you lose them or buy in bulk and don't have instructions, the simplest way to remember how deep to plant them is - plant them about three times as deep as the bulb's diameter. Also, buy plump, top-quality bulbs from nurseries, and the sooner they are available to buy, the better. Generally, the bigger the bulb's circumference, the more flowers you will get from that bulb.

If you have the heavy clay soil that most of us have, amend the soil so that it will drain quickly. That way you won't rot the bulbs. If you are planting in garden beds, add organic matter before planting. If you are planting in pots, use light, fibrous potting soil. Mulching your bulbs isn't necessary, but it certainly can be beneficial. About three inches of mulch is sufficient. The best time to mulch your bulbs is right after the ground lightly freezes. The mulch keeps the ground temperatures cool and stable, stable being the most important part of that equation. Also, water your bulbs immediately after planting.

If you have lots of furry critters digging up your newly-planted bulbs, there are a couple of things you can do to foil them. First of all, plant daffodils and others of the narcissi family - squirrels don't like their taste. But if your favorites are tulips and crocus, you can place wire mesh on top of the bed after you plant the bulbs. Squirrels can't dig through the wire, but flowers can still grow through it.

A really neat planting trick for bulbs is to plant them in clusters instead of lines. If you plant them in a triangular pattern (with the point of the triangle facing the front of the garden) then it looks as if you planted more flowers than you actually did.

How do you take care of these spring/summer flowering bulbs? All of them thrive in full sun and/or dappled shade in hot summer climates. Apply a complete fertilizer between leaf emergence and bloom. In containers, use half-strength liquid fertilizer and apply it at leaf emergence, at bloom, and then once the blooming is finished. After the leaves start to die, stop watering to let the bulbs go dormant for the summer. You can pull off the faded blooms but keep the leaves on the plants. This helps rebuild the bulbs. Remember to clip off faded tulip flowers so they don't go to seed. If you've planted your bulbs in containers with annuals, you can keep watering throughout the summer. Just cut down or tuck fading bulb foliage under the annuals.

What happens if we get a spring snowstorm after your bulbs bloom? These plants are hardier than you might think and usually they can weather these late storms. A short freeze shouldn't do much harm either, although it may damage developing buds and "burn" the blossoms if they are already opened.

Pat Diaz lives on six acres in the woods and is busy shooing turkeys away from the ripe tomatoes and deer away from the potatoes. Why won't they eat zucchini???

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