Plant
Flower Bulbs in the Fall
for a Beautiful Spring
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The coming of autumn does not have to mean hanging up your garden shears and garden gloves for the year. The fall season is actually the time when many of the most popular bulbs bloom, and planting fall bulbs can provide your garden with much needed color almost until the moment the first snow falls.
The fall season is also one of the most pleasant times to work in your garden, since the heat of summer has passed. Many gardeners love spending the late summer and autumn days working in their garden.
In addition, fall bulbs are a great investment for the home gardener. After all, the great thing about bulbs is that they are able to remain in the ground, ready to spring forth when their optimal growing conditions are met. Even when they are not growing and blooming, the bulbs are still there, readying themselves for the next season.
The most popular types of bulbs to plant in the fall season are tulips, daffodils and crocus. In addition to these well known varieties, however, there are a number of other choices as well, including hyacinths, iris, amaryllis and daylilies. These types of bulbs are easy to grow and they bloom beautifully.
Buying flower bulbs to plant and grow is an exciting experience that begins in the fall and continues through the spring .Shopping for the right bulbs is easy; simply choosing firm, healthy looking bulbs, and avoiding those that are cracked, dry or soft is a good way to choose the best bulbs for your garden.
When planting fall bulbs, one of the most important considerations is finding a suitable location for them. Most bulb varieties grow best in full sunlight, and it is also important to properly prepare the planting bed The soil is probably the most important consideration. Bulbs always do best in a well drained soil, and when bulbs fall to grow it is usually because they have rotted due to overly wet soil. .
Many experienced gardeners prefer to excavate the planting bed to a depth of between 12 and 15 inches, and then lay down a layer of well aged manure or compost. After this layer is put down, the bulbs are spaced properly, then covered with either the original soil or with a good quality compost or potting soil.
While this method is a great way to plant bulbs, it is also a very time consuming one. If you are looking for a less item consuming method of planting fall bulbs, you can use a bulb planter to make three to four inch wide holes. To use a bulb planter, you simply use a twisting motion. After the proper depth has been reached, the bulb planter is removed and the bulb can be planted. Even though bulb planters are a real time saver for most gardeners, they do not perform well where the soil is rocky.
Flower bulbs need a good, long, winter’s sleep. If they wake up before they are fully rested they don't bloom well at all. Actually what happens is during a mild winter, the soil stays too warm and the bulbs begin to come out of dormancy early. They start to grow, and once the tips emerge above the soil line, they are subject to freezing if the temperatures dip back down below freezing. And that’s usually what happens. After the bulbs have emerged, they freeze and then don't bloom at all, or if they do it’s a very sad display.
This can also happen if the bulbs are not planted deep enough. They may have been deep enough when you planted them, but as the soil goes through the freezing and thawing process, the bulbs can actually work their way up in the ground. One way to keep your flower bulbs sleeping longer, which will protect them from freezing, is to mulch the bed.
In the fall just apply a 3-4” layer of well composted mulch over all of your flower bulb gardens, including those bulb gardens you've planted in previous years. This layer of mulch will do a couple of things. It will maintain a higher moisture content in the soil, which is good as long as the soil isn't too soggy. Well composted mulch also adds valuable organic matter to the planting bed. Organic matter makes a great natural fertilizer.
A 3-4” layer of mulch also acts as an insulator. It will keep the soil from freezing for a while, which is good because you don't want the bulbs going through a series of short cycles of freezing and thawing. Then when the temperatures drop below freezing and stay there for a while, the soil does eventually freeze. Then the mulch actually works in reverse and keeps the soil from thawing out too early. Keeping it in a frozen state is actually good because the bulbs remain dormant for a longer period of time.
When they finally do wake up it is spring time, and hopefully by the time they emerge from the ground the danger of a hard freeze is past and they will not be damaged. If you can keep them from freezing, they will flower beautifully. The extra organic matter will help to nourish the bulbs when they are done blooming, and the cycle starts all over again.
Happy
Planting!
