Bulbs: Horticultutal Tips for Planting Tulips, 1 by tabasco

tabasco wrote:
Hi, everyone:

Received this e-mail today from Van Engelen's Bulbs and thought it might be a useful reminder to those of us who are planning our bulb 'schemes' for next season!

From Vanengelen's e-mail:

Now is a good time to start getting your garden ready for fall bulb planting. Bulbs require well-draining, neutral pH soil (preferably a sandy loam), with at least 4 hours of good sunlight each day. For clay soil, break up the clay a good foot deeper than the planting depth of the tulip bulbs and amend the bed with sand and peat moss. For sandy soil, add peat moss and aged leaf compost. Tulip bulbs do not like to get “wet feet”: they drown and rot.


If you intend to interplant clusters of tulips among perennials, insert labeled plastic markers in the center of each cluster site and photograph them while your perennials are in full bloom. Then, when it is time to plant, you can refer to your photographs after the perennials have faded or been cut back. (Fall is also the time to plant garlic and shallot sets: they are available through http://www.kitchengardenseeds.com).

Plant your tulip bulbs in the fall once the ground is between 55 and 60°F: after a good night frost and about two weeks of solid sweater weather. Make sure that you plant them the specified depth. Use a flower bulb fertilizer with a 7-10-5 composition and only use it as a top dressing after the bulbs are planted. You run the risk of root burn and immature root development that can result in foliage only and no flowers if you put fertilizer in each bulb hole. If rain is unlikely after planting, you may want to lightly water the tulip bed after fertilizing.