Bulbs are popping up in the greenhouse!!! And help question!

Well, my asiatic lillies, iris "beauty series" and spider lillies are all coming up in the greenhouse!! The foilage has just begun to unfold on the asiatic they are approx 4" tall for the most part. The iris are now about 8" or so! I also planted some allium "fireworks mix" outside under shade clothe and was wondering now that they have foilage (approx 4") and also iris reticulata with a tiny bit of foilage... Do I now need to cover these with freeze cloth as we do the rest of our tender plants?? The lows this week are high 20's. Any help is appreciated. Hoping to send pic soon!

Katrina

simply

Iris 'Oriental, Gypsy, Silver and Bronze Beauty' all grow in the autumn and by now should have leaves up to 12 inches long

your lilies are too warm because they are in the greenhouse

your spider lilies are too warm also

Iris reticulata flower in the spring and should be above ground by now.

Katrina-

All the bulbs that you mention I grow. I'm in Zone 8...Oregon. I never put them in a Greenhouse. They need a Cold Winter for them to have a period of being dormant. What is happening is your bulbs are being 'Forced' in your greenhouse. If you put them outside in a protected area...Like along the house or the greenhouse they will slow down to, or almost come to a stand still in growing. It is way too early for these to be blooming....Unless you want to force them and then their chances of survival are slim to null of re-blooming again...You are in a different Eco-Climate, so that does have a different effect in growing. But these should never be in a greenhouse now.

ZZ.

I would cover the lily growth with some loose compost to protect the new growth which will be very tender. It will soon push through when the time is right.

Well the greenhouse is only set to stay at 60 so its not like its hot! The iris are 8" isn't that close enough to 12" I wish I would have known not to put them in the greenhouse, I posted and asked when we got the bulbs in and no-one answered :(

Katrina

When I was reading up on bulbs, when taking over the community garden I am cultivating now, general directions seemed to indicate that lilies (I did not plant iris), required a period of eight to nine weeks at 45F or below to provide a dormant period prior to spring growth.

As an aside, and off this topic..., the first flower ever to bloom in my garden, under my care at least, a galanthus, has bloomed today, 5 Jan 2002. I'm feeling mighty fine ;~)

Adam.

Oh that's great, your efforts rewarded!!

How fitting it's a snowdrop, the start of a wonderful year with this harbinger of spring.

60F wow thats 15C which is way to hot for a dormant bulb. here in the UK bulbs are in full growth at that temperature. 30F would have been sufficient just to keep the frost at bay.

reduce the temperature to 30F to hold back the bulbs. Put the two iris outside and provided there is no frost or snow I would plant them today.

Philomel are the snowdrops that flower in September and October harbingers of spring?

Aotearoa what snowdrop is in flower now? is it a named variety or just early

http://davesgarden.com/t/369003/ Plantsdirect lots of people answered your queries in the bulb forum including me. there were 7 replies in one and 41 in the other. the latter had some irrevelant chat from Philomel and I.

Picky picky - OMG we're back to that wonderful word PEDANTIC hahahaha

I still think it's wonderful that Ao's first flower in his new garden is a snowdrop, so stop being difficult :P

Editing to say that the irrelevant chat mentioned only happened after quite a lot that was relevant and I thought your questions had been answered, but I came in rather late in the day as I bought my bulbs so late. They were in a cold room for a few weeks, but are now sitting outside with their heads poking through the soil and with a very thin blanket of snow. It'll be interesting to see how they do.

BTW my screen now shows all the lines it should - but that photo still on the thread is proof that I'm not completely barking (just slightly;)

This message was edited Sunday, Jan 5th 3:16 PM

shameless plug in the name of snowdrops http://www.snowdropinfo.com/

and I cant remember what that means

Nitpicking

Well all of these bulbs already had cool periods and I read that the iris were supposed to bloom in Jan-Feb so thats why I put them in the greenhosue, the rest are outside, not at a controlled temp, they are under shade cloth and the temps have been 60 during the day and around 30 at night. We are doing no special treatment to them. The asiatic I thought considering they had the cold treatment already would be fine being put in the greenhouse to go ahead and come up? Did I do the wrong thing by assuming that? I got the rest in the ground outside in normal n fla weather. They all say they are hardy for n. fla. Butterfly said that she grew all her asiatic in the greenhouse where she worked at before thats why I put those there, the rest except for the beauty series are outside, I have putlled a few out of the pot and the roots are growing very well they are very stable it seems. I know we talked alot about advice, and I did do what you said Mark and got everything into their pots right away, but went with butterfly on the asiatic part. So, I should now move the iris beauty series outside with the rest into the cold weather? my question really was whether or not to provide protection to the new growth of the bulbs outside that have new foilage even though they are under shade cloth it is still getting high 20's sometimes and I didn't know if they needed frost blankets put on them?

Katrina

the Iris reticulata and the Iris 'Beauty' dont need any protection and can take what ever the weather throws at them. mine came through a week of -10C/15F this time last year.

So I will have them move those outside, what about the Asiatic was I wrong on that move in your opinion Mark?

Katrina

Mark,

Galanthus elwesii, is what I have blooming. I planted 25 of these on 15 October. Others are showing some greenery, yet only one is fully up and in bloom. Sure is a pretty little thing.

Adam.

I would label this snowdrop. on the label write it is Galanthus elwesii and the date the flower opened. if it does the same next year move it away from the rest. it will multiply and soon you will have a clump of early flowering elwesii. like I seem to say a lot - do it today!

Mark ~~~

Thank you for the advice. On my way out to do it NOW. Always happy to have the guidance of an expert.

Adam.

thanks but there are more who know more than me. thanks anyway