So every spring we have customers come in looking for tulips and daffodils because they see them blooming outside in peoples yards. Well now is the time to plant them not in the spring. Bulbs that flower early in the spring need to be planted in the fall so that their roots can grow out over the winter. If you look to find them in the spring, you might find some around Easter that have been greenhouse grown so that they are flowering at just the right time, but these greenhouse grown plants don’t do as well over winter. They need the time to expand their roots without having to provide nutrients to an already growing plant.

Now we stopped carrying fall bulbs years ago as the market for them changed with all the mail order catalogs and almost every store carrying them from big box to supermarket. But these days you can find almost anything you are looking for on the internet, so now even those stores only have the basic red tulips and yellow daffodils. Most of the bulb companies that we used to buy from now sell direct to consumer over the internet. So if you are thinking about planting bulbs, now through Thanksgiving is the best time of the year to plant them. The bulbs will start growing roots within days of planting and over the winter, then when the soil thaws in the spring, the bulbs will sprout and signal the beginning of another growing season. Crocus and snowdrops are some of the earliest flowers, often blooming while there is still some snow on the ground. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinth and others can provide color through most of the spring, but remember the 5 P rule, Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. 

Before you plant, prepare your soil for best results. Add lime to sweeten the soil for quicker uptake of nutrients and minerals. Add bonemeal which is a natural fertilizer that is high in phosphorus which is what bulbs need for larger blooms. Loosen your garden bed soil with vermiculite or perlite which adds aeration and makes it easier for the roots to expand over the winter. Don’t use peat moss to loosen the soil as it may cause the bulbs to rot by keeping them too moist and it will lower your soil pH. You may also want to put down some critter repellent as well, to make sure the bulbs you plant now are still there next spring. 

Moles, voles and shrews can do a lot of damage to your bulb bed in a relatively short period of time. Mice and chipmunks will also nibble on your bulbs over the winter. In the spring watch out for some larger four legged critters. 

When your bulbs are starting to sprout in the spring, some bulbs like crocus, hyacinth and daffodils are deer and rabbit resistant, but deer love tulips and without proper protection you’ll never see them bloom. My wife puts up some poly deer netting over her tulips which worked well to protect her tulips this past spring, even after the deer jumped through my electric fence. Deer Scram and other repellents will work well too, just remember to reapply at regular intervals. Spring bulbs make a nice accent to perennial beds as they do not compete for sunlight or space with most perennials. Your bulbs will flower earlier in the spring and then die back into the ground when your perennials start to grow and bloom in the late spring and summer. So if your interested in the early spring color from bulbs, now is the time to do it, not in the spring.