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Plant bulbs now for a fabulous spring

It’s a shame that bulbs have such an image problem. They’re brown, look like onions and give no idea of the glorious promise of colour

It’s a shame that bulbs have such an image problem. They’re brown, look like onions and give no idea of the glorious promise of colour that lies dormant inside each one.

Our culture preaches instant gratification and bulbs are all about anticipation and delayed gratification. The pay-off in planting bulbs now will come next spring when those humble brown orbs give rise to gorgeous blooms announcing the arrival of spring.

That said, if you’ve never grown bulbs, or have and been disappointed with the results, you’ll be happy to know that they are easy to grow when you know a few basics.

Not all bulbs are created equal:

• Some varieties, particularly tulips, will produce only one good season of bloom while others are reliable perennializers, settling in to producing bigger and better blooms for many years. The Darwin Hybrid series of tulips are excellent perennializers as are some of the species varieties.

• Size matters. Larger bulbs are more expensive but produce more, or larger, blooms than smaller bulbs of the same type.

• Some types of bulbs lend themselves to naturalizing while others are best used in more formal settings. Look for ‘Naturalizing’ in the bulb description if this is the effect you want.

• Some bulbs are deer candy (like tulips) but there are many they leave alone. Look for the ‘Deer Resistant’ symbol on packaging. Daffodils are a good choice because they contain a toxic alkaloid which tastes awful so they’re avoided by deer, rabbits and voles.

Planting bulb is almost as easy as ‘dig, drop and done,’ but following these guidelines will help you grow better blooms.

Choose a site that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight daily, because bulbs bloom early in the season, before leaves have fully unfurled on deciduous trees, they often do well in areas that are heavily shaded later in the growing season.

If possible, plant bulbs into well-drained soil where water doesn’t pool in spring. This will help prevent basal rot fungus.

Plant tulips deeper than generally indicated on the packaging. When tulips are planted too close to the soil surface the warmth causes them to divide after blooming rather than growing larger. The resulting small bulbs won’t bloom again until they reach flowering size.

 

 

Plant tulips bulbs about eight inches in heavy clay soil and up to 12 inches in sandy soil. The minor bulbs like crocus, squills and glory of the snow should only be planted a few inches deep but be careful to remove any bulb debris from the soil surface so that you don’t unwittingly attract rodents like voles and squirrels to the site.

Use bulb fertilizer when planting rather than bone meal.

Bulb fertilizer contains a better balance of nutrients that is more quickly available to the roots than bone meal.

Unlike tulips and most of the minor bulbs, daffodils/narcissus must be planted in early fall in order to have well-established roots before the ground freezes. If planted too late, daffodil bulbs often freeze resulting in few, if any, blooms.

Remove spent blooms promptly after blooming to prevent seed formation and allow bulb foliage to ripen (turn yellow) after flowering so that enough nutrients are absorbed to develop next years’ blooms. No matter how tempting it is, don’t tie it up, cut it back or otherwise interfere with the foliage until it’s yellow and pulls up easily.

-Harriet Hanna is a gardening expert and an owner of Hanna Orchards and Farm Market.