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| Photo Credit: Lane Greer |
| Sunny yellow daffodils greet spring warmly with their happy faces. |
Spring just wouldn’t be the same without colorful bulbs leaping out of the ground to greet us. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths – their very names put smiles on our faces. But if we’re going to enjoy these spring beauties at their best (or at all), we need to plan – and plant – ahead.
It may seem kinda weird – preparing for your bright spring garden well before you’re even thinking how long it takes to prepare your Thanksgiving turkey. But like that roasted 21-pound bird, bulbs need time if they’re gonna “cook” properly. (Fortunately, planting these springtime bloomers is easier than defrosting a frozen turkey at the last minute.) The most common spring bulbs, like tulips and daffodils, need a period of cold to signal the bulb to put down roots. If you don’t give your bulbs enough cold, they’ll repay you in spring with really short stems and flowers hidden in the foliage (a condition known as “blasting”). For a majority of garden-loving homeowners, this means bulbs should be planted in fall when the weather’s starting to cool. But if you live somewhere with mild winters, like the Gulf Coast, Southwest or coastal California, you’ll need to provide this cooling period without the help of Mother Nature and give your bulbs the cold shoulder in your fridge: Just put the bulbs in paper bags and stick ’em somewhere out of the way. (I used to put mine in the produce drawer.) Keep them there until things cool off around your house, or for a couple of months (like from October to December). | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Lane Greer | | Plant tulips very close together for a stunning spring display. |
For the rest of us, October’s the perfect month for planting bulbs in most areas of the country. When planting, the general rule of thumb is to bury bulbs two to three times as deep as they are tall. So a 2-inch-tall bulb should be planted 4-6 inches belowground, and a 3-inch-tall bulb should be planted 6-9 inches deep. (Planting depth is taken from the base of the bulb.) Plant your bulbs with the pointed end up. If there’s no pointed end, look for threadlike roots, and plant that end down.
There’s really no date that makes it “too late” to plant bulbs. November – or even December – is okay in warm climates. You just don’t want to miss too much cold, since bulbs need those three or four months of cold temperatures, and they need time to put down a healthy root system. The problem you run into is rain and snow: Who wants to plant bulbs into soggy soil (or while wearing a winter coat)?
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