too early???

Hi....was just talking to my neighbour (who is not a gardener), about my plan to plant some bulbs (first time) in the next day or so...and she said it's too early because it still gets fairly warm during the day and they'll want to start sprouting. Am I really supposed to wait until the first frost? I thought the idea was to get them in the ground now BEFORE the frost to give them time to form roots to survive the winter. Mornings are now low teens (celcius), so thought it was okay????

Boy! ...will I ever get this whole gardening thing figured out???? :-)

Sharron

Looking at your zone it is probably fine for you to plant now! BRRR!!!



This message was edited Sep 20, 2004 9:43 AM

I disagree. I think your neighbor is right, that the low teens Celsius (e.g., 12C = 54F) is much too warm to plant bulbs in your area yet. If I were you I'd ask around at independent, well-respected nurseries in your area as to when people there usually plant their bulbs.

Other assistance could come from some of our gardeners who are in your Zone 5b. Anyone want to chime in?

Well, I was wondering too whether it was really too early to start planting. After all, the daff bulbs, etc. are already in the ground from last year and they always come up just fine.

I know it's in the literature to wait, and I can see that it could be too early for tulips and other non perennializers, but has anyone experimented....mmmmm....Any thoughts?