When does spring bulb folliage die?

I ask this question because I want to plant some daylillies and the previous owner already ready had crocus, daffodil and hyacinths bulbs planted and the folliage is up and running. These bulbs are planted where I want to plant dl's.

Do you want to keep the bulbs and just move them? Have they flowered yet?

The numbers I use is 6 weeks after the blooms die. Then I can mow over them. It seems to work as the daffodils and tulips get more crowded every year. I'm going to have to dig them up this fall and spread them out. -Doug

Some are flowering now. How soon can I move them? However she planted them they look like little bouquets. Is there a certain way to replant. I'm thinking about planting them in an area where the hosta's grow so the hosta's can grow over them.

If you're very very careful, you might be able to move them now - but it's probably best to wait because moving them with most likely affect the bloom. You can dig them up after the foliage dies, store them in peat & replant in the fall. The crocuses are probably only about 3 inches deep, the hyacinths & daffs probably up to 8 inches deep. Where they are in little bouquets, it's because there is a cluster of bulbs planted close together. You will probably want to do that when you replant too, it just looks prettier.

Are bulbs very expensive? How long does bloom last? If all fails, I will dig up and just replant again. Some are blooming but others are just showing green folliage. Maybe it is time to start over anyway.

I'm one zone colder than you so keep that in mind about the times I mention.

My crocuses have been in bloom for over a week now and I think they are getting to the end of there blooming. They are looking a little ratty. My daffodils are about 4-5 inches tall and are showing buds. I suspect that the daffodils will start blooming this coming weekend or maybe a couple of days later because the local weatherman is calling for temperatures around 70 on the Easter weekend. If it Stays in the 40's or low 50's the flowers may last a couple of weeks. If it gets much warmer than that maybe 7 to 10 days. My hyacinths are about an inch or so high and will bloom after the daffodils and before my tulips.

From a little google searching I found this for daffodils:
http://www.flower-garden-bulbs.com/daffodil-transplanting.html

On crocuses this is what I found here:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Bulbs-709/crocus-moving.htm

For hyacinths :
http://www.flower-garden-bulbs.com/moving-hyacinths-in-the-spring-after-blooming.html



Crocuses seem to run around $.30 to $.50 each, daffodils $.80 to $2.00 each and Hyacinths $1.00 to $1.80 each depending on which ones, where you order and how many you order.

Deciding if moving them is worth the effort compared to buying them depends on how much you like them and how much money you have compared to how much time you have.

I think I will just take a couple of bulbs out where I want to plant the DL's and let the DL grow amongst the folliage so that by the time the folliage is dying, my Dl's will be coming up. This beats moving everything.

I over plant all my bulbs with perennials, so why move them? Here is a May and July shot of the same area. Patti

Thanks bbrookrd, that is exactly what I want to do. That looks great. What is that red daylilly you have planted out front?

valdavid, I wish I knew. Those were planted more than 20 years ago and, as all my garden journals started in 1983 were lost when we had water damage from a burst pipe in 2000, I have no idea. Help from anyone would be loved.

I just add bulbs around the base of any existing perennials and I plant new perennials over existing bulbs by digging down carefully and tucking the new kid in with the old bulbs or by moving the bulbs to one side in the hole. Narcissus and perennial tulips should be planted 8" deep so that gives you a fair amount of space above them to plant small new perennials, except large clumps or shrubs. I am sure I have lost some bulbs to DL's, but not so many that I have noticed. The clumps of day lilies may at some point become too thick for the bulbs, but it is amazing how bulbs find a way to come up near by.

As for moving. Several ways. The first being to wait for about six weeks after the bulb has bloomed and the leaves have yellowed, then dig the bulbs and then transplant them immediately or secondly, you can then dry and clean the dug bulbs and then store them in mesh bags in a cool dark place to be replanted next fall or thirdly, do as I have done plenty of times and move them in full bloom.

I have done this with Narcissus as well as hyacinth when the color was all wrong. I planted some pink ones in an orange spot. Not pretty. Tulips are more difficult as they tend to break, more easily. But I move those too, if I have goofed and planted them in the wrong place. I waited for the hyacinth to finish before moving the 10 screamingly bad ones. We lost one. Be careful when handling the hyacinth as some people get a rash from them, like me. They are big and easy to move, just plant them deep. After moving don't cut any of the foliage off any of these until it has completely yellowed on its own. But do cut off the flowers as soon as possible. I cut the flowers off before I move them if I can bare to do it. The foliage will help feed the bulb while the flower if allowed to go to seed will take strength away from the it. I deadhead all my Narcissus as soon as they finish blooming. It keeps them tidy looking and helps them for next year.

So to move them while in bloom, first just dig a big hole where you want them to go, then go and dig up the clump to be moved as deep as you can, so as not to cut the bulbs. Dump it in the new hole, tamp down and water well. Do the next clump. I do it on a cool, cloudy day. They will be back next year almost as if nothing has happened.


We have a big narcissus festival in Nantucket each spring and to decorate my bookstore window for those two days I would dig up clumps of fully blooming daffodils from our garden, and pot them up to place in the window display and they would stay in that window over the weekend before being returned to the garden on Monday. They wilted a tad sooner upon returning home, but next year they were as good as ever. I have never moved a crocus on purpose. They should be everywhere! Good luck. Patti

Thanks, your garden looks so beautiful. My husband told me to stop looking at everyone's garden because I had no idea what I was doing and making him dig holes everywhere (smile).

Lots of holes is the best place to start! The more the better!

Here was a new bed my that my DH and I dug and planted last spring. I had to twist his arm. The last picture shows lots of holes drilled with a bulb auger in the fall for to fill with more bulbs. They will all be blooming soon. Pictures to follow. Patti

Patti- Love the May/July shots of the same garden area. A great use of gardenspace for two bloom periods. Just lovely.

newyorkrita, Thanks, I am a big believer in filling in every inch of usable ground. Hope we get some sun so all the bulbs will come out and play this weekend. Patti

You and I think alike. I started creating my daylily beds in 2007. Then I started adding lily bulbs and this year going to be adding lots of spring flowering bulbs in the fall. Already ordered lots of them (tulips and daffs). I like lots of color and lots of bloom in my gardens.

This way I will get the spring bulb season, daylily season in July and then summer bloom spread out in June and July from all the lily bulbs.

bb. Love the shots of your garden beds 'in process', before and afters. Always so creative!

And yes, Valdavid, I too was thinking like bb. In fact, daffs and daylilies are a classic combination for gardeners. The daylilies (supposedly) disguise the spent foliage of the daffs until you are allowed to cut it off (six or eight weeks after daff bloom). Then the hems come into bloom and you're all set with a beautiful summer garden (like bb's, in my dreams, at least!).

Another plus on the daylily/daff combo that I have found out is that the daff leaves disguise the daylilies in spring so that the deer (if they are kind of near sighted) miss chomping on the hems' tender new shoots.

I never even cut back the leaves on my daffs. I just leave them. They die and shrivel up all by themselves. Daffs are my favorite spring bulbs and daylilies my favorite perennial flower. They sure do go together in my opinion.

If you want to add even more color to your daylily beds add asiatic lilies. Then you get early bloom with daffs, June bloom before the daylilies with asiatic lilies and July bloom with the daylilies. Get the solid color asiatics. Those new fangeled speckled tango asiatics bloom with the daylilies for me, not before.