By now all of the greenhouses, grocery stores, and hardware stores are full of bulbs. I know you are starting to get tired of the garden but bulbs in the spring are incredibly energizing and worth the extra time in planting.

You can plant bulbs as late as the end of October, but the bulbs do need the time to set down roots before they can extend their flowers. Therefore, the later you plant bulbs the later the bulbs will come up in spring. When I first started gardening, I planted my bulbs according to the instructions. I dug a six to eight inch (15cm – 20cm) hole and planted them pointy side up. And somewhere around mid- June they came up. Many of the bulbs now are not as long lived as the original Darwin hybrids so you are better off planting tulips 3”- 4” (7cm – 10cm) down and daffodils 4” (10cm). Ensure you dust them with bulb dust (fungicide) to protect them.

I find that they come up much earlier and I think that they will pick up fertilizer the following year easier and re-flower the next spring. Depending where you buy your bulbs, prepare for about 80% to 90% of them to come up and flower.

For the non-Darwin hybrids you can often get 2 or 3 years out of them before they stop blooming. When that happens most people dig them up and plant new bulbs.

Kevin Napora, Landscape Designer & Master Gardener, Salisbury Landscaping, Edmonton & Area

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