Too late for bulbs?

 
Hi all

I'm an idiot-level white-belt beginner gardener.  I've just moved into a
fantastic new place with a back yard.  Since I grew up in Holland, I
immediately thought "crocuses" and "tulips".

No-one in the UK will need telling that it's not really possible to dig
and plant at the moment... (I'm in Glasgow: -10 most nights).

Is it too late for me to stick some crocus or tulip bulbs in, if we get
a thaw in the next few weeks?  Or do they need to sit in deep-frozen
ground for a few months to start growing when things get warmer?

thanks!

seb




--
seb

 
If you can work the unfrozen soil then plant and water the bulbs and
put a mulch a foot or more thick over the entire area (remove at first
sign of spring emergence) you could get away with it.

 On 12/25/2010 10:43 AM, beecrofter wrote:

Does the ground in Glasgow freeze hard and deep in the winter? If not I
wouldn't hesitate to get some bulbs in the ground and I wouldn't worry
about super-thick mulching either -- just get the bulbs into the ground at
the recommended depth (or even a hair more) in amended well-drained soil
and add a normal covering of mulch (preferably dark-colored). A
south-facing location up against a wall would be even better if you can
manage it since it will provide a better micro-climate. I've gotten away
with planting tulip and hyacinth bulbs in Anchorage, Alaska in November
when the ground was on the verge of freezing solid after clearing snow from
the bed and they came up perfectly and thrived for years. The great thing
about bulbs at this time of year is, if you can find them, they are likely
to be priced in your favor -- the garden center really wants to dispose of
them. The choice may be bad but the prices often make up for that.

I suspect that the largest top-grade bulbs such as tulips and hyacinth and
daffodil will respond better to this sort of treatment although I don't
have enough evidence to swear to it. For certain I wouldn't want to be
mucking about with tiny crocus or bluebell bulbs in the freeze -- just to
fiddly for cold fingers.

 
John McGaw;908392 Wrote:

Thanks for all your knowledge!  I did say I'm a
turning-up-to-the-dojo-for-the-first-time-wearing-the-wrong-clothes
white-belt gardener, so I won't be embarrassed to ask: what does the
mulch do, whether thick or thin?  Presumably it doesn't do anything for
nutrition - is it to do with preventing ground frost from penetrating
deeply?  But then I get the impression that bulbs _like_ being frozen.

@JohnMcGaw - your physical location puts the problems we've been having
in Scotland into perspective!  No, I don't think Glasgow generally gets
bad ground-frost (though this year has been exceptional) - in the
context of Scotland it's facing the Atlantic and Gulf Stream, and tends
to be damp, wet and warmer.  Two hours with a hairdryer on the pipe got
my water supply back online the other day - and that problem was to do
with 3m of air-exposed pipe crossing a sunken area, rather than ground
frost.

I guess I'll see what my muscles and a fork can do with the earth once
the thaw sets in (seems to be warmer already), get some bulbs cheaply in
this off-season and stick them in.  Love to know what the mulch is for.




--
seb

 

Google "why use mulch in garden". If you still have questions, that will
be the  time to ask them.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.