Zone 6b - Mid-Atlantic Gardening

Now that the ground has started to cool off, it’s a good time to put in your bulbs for spring flowers. Most bulbs need between 12 and 16 weeks of continual chilling to produce flowers. Plant too early and they’ll sense warmer soil temps, get all confused, and break bud way too early on very short stems.

Remember, plant spring-flowering bulbs (e.g. crocus, daffodils, hyacinths and grape hyacinths, tulips) in the fall, and summer/fall-flowering bulbs (Lily-of-the-Valley, autumn crocus, most types of lilies, dahlias) in early spring.

Here are some tips for a successful bulb crop next spring:

1. Good drainage is important, because bulbs will rot in excessively wet areas. If your soil retains moisture, mix in two or three inches of organic matter such as peat moss or compost and work it down into the soil about 10 inches. Consider using raised beds for especially soggy areas.

2. Most bulbs need at least four to six hours of sun each day, but preferably early or late-day sun rather than midday.

3. Soil pH for most bulbs should be between 6 and 7; garden centers and hardware stores stock soil test kits.

4. Most gardeners have different ideas about planting depth, no matter what the bulb package says. I measure the width of each bulb, and then plant it three or four times as deep, measuring from the base or bottom of the bulb. Sometimes I’m careless and I just “eyeball” it, especially if I find myself planting after going to one of those champagne brunches.

5. Large bulbs like to be planted three to six inches apart, and small bulbs can be as close as one inch apart.

6. Try to plant bulbs in clusters, rather than rows. You don’t want your garden to look like an industrial park; you want it to look like the flowers effortlessly naturalized themselves while you devoted yourself to charity work and meditation.

7. Use a slow-release fertilizer or bone meal when planting. When you see the first shoots in spring, apply a regular quick-release fertilizer such as Bud and Bloom or Miracle Gro.

8. Cover the bed with a few inches of mulch after planting.

In the spring, after the bulbs have finished blooming, remove the faded flowers to prevent them from producing seed (unless that’s your goal) but leave the foliage alone until it turns brown – usually after fall’s first cold snap. The bulb needs the leaves to produce and store energy for next year’s growth.

After a few years, bulbs can become crowded. This is the most common reason that groups of bulbs fail to bloom. Dig them up in the fall and divide them and replant them. Give some to your friends. You can pretend you’re Martha Stewart and put the bulbs in little tiny gift bags with labels and care instructions. They make wonderful, if weird, stocking-stuffers.

If you’re having trouble with squirrels digging up your bulbs, stick with daffodils. Animals don’t eat them because they can be toxic. You can also lay wire mesh (e.g. chicken wire) down on top of the bed and cover with mulch. Some bulb fanatics even wrap each bulb in wire mesh when they plant them; the shoots do find a way through the mesh.

The most common problems with bulbs are viruses (which can cause variegation in the leaves or even petals) and insects (mainly thrips and aphids). There’s not much you can do about viruses, but if your leaves show puckering, curling, or other abnormalities, try some organic insecticidal soap or horticultural oil.

Stumble it!