Will bulbs be damaged by early sprouting ?

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PhilS46 Amherst, VA Nov 22, 2014

I live in Zone 7 (Virginia). I planted my bulbs after the first frost, and then we had a unusual warming. Now my daffodils are coming up through the mulch.

Will this destroy the flowers ?
Will I have to replant in the spring.

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valal Natick, MA Nov 22, 2014

Phil,
This recent thread in the Bulbs Forum might answer your question:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1380496/

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Dec 04, 2014

It's always frightening when you see some plants become active out-with their normal flowering times, BUT do remember, all plants work with nature, the temp, the light, soil and also the temp of the soil at planting time can alter the time-clock of the plants growing timetable. your bulbs don't know months of the year etc, they just get the right conditions and off they go, so if I were you, I really would just leave them to get on with it, disturbing them now could mean breaking the roots, damaging the growing tips and putting the bulbs under stress with the possibility of loosing them.

Let them grow as they are, If worried about frost, give a couple of inches of leaf mould as a mulch, this is only to prevent the frost getting deep down into the actual bulbs, IF you don't get that type of frost / freeze, leave alone.
This season they may grow and flower before the normal time however, try to just enjoy this early colour, leave the foliage to die down naturally after the flowers are done and you have
dead-headed them, allowing the foliage to rot and dry while on the plants, only remove this dead dried foliage when you can gently tug it away without pulling the bulbs free from the soil.
Leave the bulbs in situ (unless you wish to lift and dry them for the next year) Left in the soil the bulbs will make more new bulblets, ready for flowering size in about 2 years time, after another 3-4 years, dig up the clumps and split them up for replanting.
The Bulbs will re-adjust to their proper seasonal flowering times either the following year or 2 years, nature will correct this for them.
Another thing to help prevent frost or heat sprouting ANY bulb is to always make sure they are buried deep enough, all bulbs need planted 3 times their depth, that is IF a bulb is 2 inches from root to tip, it requires to be planted 6 inches deep, small bulbs like Snowdrops etc only require to be an inch deep.

Hope all this gives you some confidence and more info regarding bulbs and their habits.
Enjoy your display of bulbs and remember this year may be out of season due to climate, next year it might be fine or later.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.

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