Planting Spring Bulbs
Planting Spring blooming bulbs
Fall is the ideal time to plant spring blooming bulbs. They can be planted as late as November-December before the ground freezes. Temperatures above 45 degrees for 8-12 weeks will give them time to develop as good root system.
Here is a quick reference for what you should do:
-When buying bulbs, check for quality. Be sure they are firm without soft spots or white mold.
-Bulbs need a light, well-drained soil or they will rot. For heavy, clay soil, incorporate organic materials such as peat moss or compost to improve drainage.
-They do not require fertilizer but will perform better when fed. Work up the soil and add bulb booster or a 5-10-10 fertilizer for vigorous future growth. The bulb should have no contact with the fertilizer, as it will burn developing roots. You can put bone meal in the bottom of the hole. Once planted, sprinkle bulb fertilizer on top of the backfilled soil in the fall or spring. Mulch planted bulbs after the ground freezes to protect from freezing/thawing cycle and remove in the spring.

-Planting depth: A general rule for tulips and daffodils is 3 times the diameter of the bulb. Cover small bulbs such as scillas, grape hyacinths, snowdrops with 2 inches of soil and large bulbs 6-8 inches. Other bulbs may vary a bit. Check package directions. In warmer climates bulbs can be planted 2 inches shallower.
-Plant pointed tip up, if not sure plant the bulb on its side, it will find its way up.
-If you have rabbits, squirrels or chipmunksdigging up your bulbs, here’s what you can do. When planting cover the bulbs with half the soil, then cover place chicken wire and fill in with the remaining soil (at least 1 inch). The chicken wire will keep the critters from digging up the bulbs. You can also plant less desireable bulbs such as allium, camassia,chionodoxa forbesii ‘Pink Giant’, colchicum ‘Waterlily’, eranthis (winter aconite), fritilaria, galanthus nivalis(snowdrops) muscari (grape hyacinths) and scilla siberica, which aren’t as tasty.
Tell a Friend or Foe about this 'Planting Spring Bulbs article'Bookmark this thread on Planting Spring Bulbs
previous post: Gladiolus
next post: Tale of Jack o’ Lantern
A fascinating site. I have a question. Is there such a thing as a Christmas bulb, i.e., a bulb planted at Christmas or earlier that will either sprout or produce a bloom by Christmas.
Comment by Ike — 2/24/2005 @ 1:24 pm
I live in a zone 4 and I just purchased some potted bulbs -tulips and dafodils, they are just starting to sprout is it safe to plant them outside yet ?
Comment by Vera — 4/14/2005 @ 4:45 pm
I’m a new bulb person and I live in zone 5. my question is do I plant bulbs even after their blooming time or do I have to store them
Comment by Rhikki — 5/16/2005 @ 7:07 am
I’m a little confused about sun preference on plants. full sun I get but partial shade, and partial sun have me a little confused. If the sun peeks through most of the day on a spot but never really is sunny is that partial shade, or partial sun. Please explain, and thank you for this sight
Comment by Rhikki — 5/16/2005 @ 7:45 am
I just bought a lot of bulbs at Home Depot. They say to plant between Sept. and Dec. Even though it is Sept 12, it is still 90degrees in Zone 7. Should I wait until it’s cooler? Thanks.
Comment by Kathleen Neve — 9/12/2005 @ 11:04 am
My daughter is getting married the end of May. She wants tulips for her wedding. When is the best time to plant the bulbs in order to get tulips to come up around that time?
Comment by Nancy Chodrick — 1/17/2006 @ 12:16 pm
My daughter bought a beautiful potted daffodil, hoping to keep it in her room. Within days, all the flowers died and the plant generally looks terrible. She tried finding info on the web, so I told her I would ask you and see what we could do for this poor plant!
Comment by Barb — 3/29/2006 @ 2:54 am
Bought lots of bulbs from a catalog.BIG mistake. They came with lots of fuzzy green mold. I dusted them with fungizide but then the snows came and it was too late to put them in the ground. HELP. Lots of bulbs and the snow has ceased. Should I plant them and see what happens? Varieties are tulips, lilies and mostly springlike. Will they come up next spring? Thanks for your help.
Comment by Linda — 4/14/2006 @ 10:20 am
I live in zone 5. Can I plant bulbs that are to bloom next season now, or in the fall?
Comment by Allison — 6/1/2006 @ 6:31 am
My husband and I came a across a flower garden while cleaning up brush on our piece of property. Right now all we saw were daffodils that are blooming and looks like Irises coming up and maybe a few tulips?.however?. once we removed the brush from around the daffodils, the next day they started to fall over and turn yellow. What would cause this? Since the other daffodils that have been coming up for a long time in my yard and seem to be blooming just fine.
Kim
Comment by Kris — 9/19/2006 @ 6:08 am
I’ve just received 100 planting bulbs, it’s still 80-90 degrees in early October when should I plant them?
Comment by gladys alford — 10/3/2006 @ 9:14 pm
I discovered a bag of tulips I had misplaced, also a bag of daffodils, a couple of allium and one lily. I live in zone 2B, it is mid November, and the ground is now frozen to a depth of at least 6 inches. Is there any way I can keep these bulbs over and plant them later? Thanks
Comment by Faye — 11/12/2006 @ 10:08 am
I live in zone 5 and planted my bulbs mid November. I noticed early this week they are starting to pop up through the ground! We’ve had mild weather so far this winter. What will happen to my plants? What will happen in the spring when they are to bloom?
Comment by Erica Boon — 12/29/2006 @ 10:58 am
hey , I’m writing from the Poconos, PA , I just built a flower bed for my wife and planted some daffs , tulips and other stuff. And now they are all dying because of the end of the season am I supposed to take the flower head off and leave them so they will come back next year? And also can I put anything else there so it looks pretty for her the rest of the summer?I appriciate it.thanks, Frank
Comment by Frank Marshen — 3/28/2007 @ 6:17 am
Can I pull up the tulip and buttercup bulbs and save them? If so, how do I need to store them for fall planting? Thanks.
Comment by Carla Kimrey — 4/16/2007 @ 5:14 am
We have inherited extensive bulb plantings from the previous homeowner. One species of yellow daffodil has seemed to mutate over the years, producing very bizarre looking flowers, sort of like a double daffodil with no trumpet. We dug up the bulbs - they looked normal - separated them and replanted them - that didn’t help, even more of them seem to be turning into this bizarre phenotype. Any ideas? Is the soil chemistry wrong? Do they just get old and weird (not unlike us humans….)?
Comment by Margaret — 4/20/2007 @ 7:24 am
What can I do with the small bulbs that grow off the mother bulbs of tulips?
Comment by linda — 9/13/2007 @ 8:39 am