Lifting Glads in spring???

Hi!
I just posted some free glad bulbs in the Trading Post but I don't know nuthin about the process!

Normally I do not lift them in my 9b/10a zone... they flower in the spring (just finishing) and sometimes in the fall OR LATER! depending on our weird California weather.

Can I lift them now to send to whoever wants them?
Can that person(s) plant them now? If they refrigerate them (how long?) before planting, will that force another bloom sooner?

Any advice or point me to a previous post (I did look, got that link to the VT bulb/storage site, but that is AUTUMN lifting, so still left those questions...

~spin!~

I'm not an expert, but if they are just finishing blooming I wouldn't dig them now. Wait until the foliage dies back.

This is how bulbs build energy stores for next year's blooms, via the foliage after this year's bloom. I would think that the poor thing has spent all it's energy growing and blooming, and now needs to build up a reserve for next year (or there will be no next year . . .).

Also, I don't think glads need or want a cold period . . . but I could be wrong.

Someone who knows more will come along . . .

Cheri'

Glads don't need a cold period and you plant them in the spring. In the colder zones you lift them in the fall and store them in a warm spot.

Except I forgot to lift mine last fall and they're coming up like gangbusters. I'm in zone 6! But they're in a bed right up next to the back door and apparently the house kept them warm enough.

I dont lift mine and they come back and spread too. Mine are in the back yard, not close to the house and no mulch. I dont think you should have a problem moving them as long as you leave the leaves on and water them well afterwords for about a week or so to give the roots time to grow in some after the move.

Dig corms as soon as foliage turns yellow or brown (about 6 weeks after blooming). Cut top off close to corm and dry well in open air or ventilated place for several days. Continue drying in a sheltered dry place before storing for the winter in flats or boxes placed in a cool dry cellar or basement

Glads form a new corm each year/flowering, so they really need the time after flowering to energize the new corm. The old corm disintegrates.

Thanks all, for the tips.

I will leave them in the ground until my northern trading partners are ready to lift and store the ones they already have, then send them to be stored together.

The salvias in the same bed are so successful, they hide the fading leaves pretty much entirely, so this is not as generous as it may seem! I don't need the space for anything else, so I'm just putting off the 'work' of digging/splitting them!

~'spin!~

In 9b you don't need to lift - but remember that the new corms form on top of the old ones, so if they aren't planted really deep, in a couple of years they will topple if not staked.