all my tulips and minnie grape hyacinths are gone

I have my whole front yard lined with tulips and mini grape hyacinths last year, for several years in fact, they bloomed beautifully, now I have like 2 or 3 tulips and 2 or three little batches of hyacinths, I think the juniper rugs killed them out, can they do that. kill out a bulb? I don't know what happened to them on the other side of the front yard though, had them over there too and their jst about gone now, nothing else just these bulbs. think something ate them all? what would do that

kathy_ann

are your tulips perenial? also, i know squirrels looooove tulip bulbs, so that could have happened. did you notice any digging or holes etc? not sure with the grape hyacinth. i thought they didn't like them, but i'm not sure.
debi z

if there wer holes they came from armadillas those blasted things are digging everywhere, for worms though not bulbs I didn't think

kathy

could be the main bulbs have run their course and all thats left is little ones not really big enough to do anything.

did you dig in the ground to see if any are left??

no I didn't but I had l000's of grape hyacinths litteraly and about 50 left, I have no idea what could have happened to them

kathy

Have you fertilized your bulbs?

I'm fairly new to gardening and don't have much experience with this myself. But last year when I was in a nursery buying tulip bulbs for the first time I asked a million questions. I was told that if I was planning on having the same bulbs multiply and bloom in succeeding years I would need to plant the bulbs with a bit of bone meal, and then refertilize them each spring with more bone meal sprinkled on the topsoil after the bulbs have finished blooming. I said that I thought spring bulbs would multiply and rebloom every spring without any problems. The nursery lady said that they will multiply and bloom just fine for a few years but then the energy store within the bulbs would eventually be used up and they would start dying. She also said that the color and size of the blossoms decreases with each year's bloom.

As I said, I don't really have any experience with this myself and maybe the nursery was just trying to push the purchase of lots of bonemeal or a whole new set of bulbs each fall! But I did notice this year when my friend's grape hyacinths and early tulips came up they weren't what they were last year! (Last year was their second bloom in her garden.) The grape hyacinths used to be visible above the border surrounding their bed but they are much shorter this year, and this year they aren't as abundant. Maybe 2/3 the number she had last year! Her tulips are similar.

Does anyone have any knowledge of this for themselves? I'd be interested in finding out what tips are "tried and true" for other spring bulb growers!

clairlise,
the woman in the garden shop was telling the truth to you, although different folks use different things to fertilize there bulbs, it is definately a necessity if you want them to return every year. also, the other thing that you have to do is allow the leaves to die back naturally. this is how the bulb stores energy to come back and bloom the next year. there are lots of articles about this subject.
this linke has articles galore about bulbs.
http://www.bulb.com/index.asp

debi_z,
Thanks for the info and the link! bulb.com has a lot of information and gets into specifics for all the different bulbs. Just what I need!

I have fertilized, but no bone meal

kathy

i tried bone meal once. my doggie, who i could control was ok. but the doggie across the street, much bigger doggie too, decided to look for the bones. guess what, i'm back to fertilizer and superphosphate.

that's too funny LOL

kathy

look at what I found today, I have 3 tulips left ou t there and one of them has been eaten on, maybe the same critter who did this ate the bulbs, could't believe it

kathy

Kathy,
I am having similar problems. I am no spring chicken when it comes to gardening, but am perplexed as to the no show I recieved from my grape hyaciinths this year. Bulbs need fertilizing every year in the fall for the upcoming years growth. I do this like clockwork. I am not sure why I had sporaric blooming this year.
Tulips on the other hand are a different story. Research it on the net and you will see. Tulips grow naturally in some pretty harsh conditions. Very cold winters and drought summers. With out these extremes the bulbs eventually die out. Tulips do not reproduce like other bulbs either. Mother bulbs shatter into many daughter bulbs and can take years to reach a blooming size. Even if you meet all the growing conditions it is a haphazard way to get flowers every year. That is why most people just plant new ones every year. Its a lot easier. If you want natuarlizing tulips talk with a trained specialist at a local gardening store. There are a lot of varieties that will naturalize and even propagate from seed in your yard, but they are usually small in size and generally multiple bloomed.

how about tree roots? 2 years ago now, i had established perennials drooping from lack of water and looking sickly. i had no idea why, until i got in there and found that the tree roots were chocking them out. some trees roots go along the surface and will block any growth.
i'd get a shovel and start to explore. can't hurt.
debi z

Voles and moles love bulbs. They will eat any of them except daffodils......My guess would be some hungry vole had a feast on your bulbs this winter.....