Too early too bloom!!

My Daffs in pots have started to sprout :( We had a few weeks of -10 or lower, and then the last 2 weeks or so have been warm 10 to 12 degrees most days..(not sure what those temps are over the border!!)
Anything I can do to get them to stop growing? Or to make them grow again when the real spring hits?

Iluv--good question! everybody's been asking that! I guess you'll have to wait it out...personally, I think bulbs are pretty resilient and will stop and go until it's time to really bloom...I'll keep watching to see what others think! t.

I wouldnt' worry about your daff bulbs getting going already. Most of my daffodils in the ground have been up since sometime in December. They got going then, and have very slowly grown. Some of them arej ust now starting to form the flower buds. Your weather is pretty well the same as ours, and our daffs will be blooming in just a couple of weeks from now.

Glenda

Daffs, tulips, hyacinth, are all popping up. But with the weather we've been having I can't blame them It's GORGEOUS outside :-)
They should be fine....if a deep freeze is forcast, just mulch them over with some leaves or straw if your truly worried.

Thanks, I'll do that, cause I just don't buy it that the cold winter weather is gone already. I have a sneaking feeling it..will...be...back...

BITE YOUR TONGUE!!!!! LOL Your probably right though.....................
I will however now blame you should it return. :-)

below is a gardening newsletter from P Allen Smith on this subject. i was thinking about mine when i got his newsletter in the mail on this.



Dear Gardening Friends

Although it is just the first week of January and the temperatures are cold, I can already see hints of spring unfolding in the garden. Small leaf buds on my maples, the bright green color of new hellebore leaves and the fuzzy flower buds on some of the spring flowering trees all indicate that longer days and warmer weather are imminent.

It is at this time of the year that panicked gardeners send me questions about what to do for their spring flowering bulbs that are starting to emerge in their flowerbeds. In fact, just this morning I noticed some of my daffodils have started to peek above the ground. I agree that it is a little unnerving to see this when there is still plenty of winter ahead.

However, it's really nothing to get alarmed about because bulbs are equipped with a certain amount of antifreeze that can help them get through cold. Now, the only time to really be concerned is once the flower has completely opened. I have often seen the blooms of my early season daffodils wiped out by a late bout of freezing temperatures.

For any bulbs that have come up early, about the only thing you can do is apply a layer of mulch; about a 2 to 3 inch covering will help keep them warm and protected. Then you'll know you've done everything you can to carry them through the remainder of winter.

Best wishes from the garden,

P. Allen Smith

Thanks Imzadi :-) makes me feel better...................

Thanks for posting that!

you are welcome.

mine came through a bout of ice storms okay last week. i had just got done layering pine straw on them. and out the blue here comes ice. i still have daffs flowering and now my crocuses are too. this weather is so wacky.

Look! Tulips already

And some early Daffodils

Up close

Oh good lord! WOW!!!
And is that hyacinth I see off to the side in the first picture?

my daffs look the same here. i have a few hyacinths trying to come up also.

i guess my flowers didnt take the prediction to heart of that groundhog. LOL

Hi Riker,

Yes some of them (Hyacinths) are popping up. I have them everywhere! The same thing happened last year, but the big show was at the beginning of March. Hopefully will be the case this year as well.

Lovely, just lovely! Thanks for sharing :-)

Oh, What gorgeous spring flowers.

Thank you Riker & KE6KAD :-)

I transplanted some emerging daffodils on the spur of the moment today - they popped right out, nice long roots, covered them even more when I replanted - then I panicked & decided to see what DG folks had to say - it's so amazing how one can find answers & hints so easily here!!! I still feel like I've done something a bit wrong transplanting them, but since I buried them deep I think I can sleep now. Night!

Isn't it funny how we do something that seems like a good idea at the time, and then jump on here to make sure it was okay? I just can't seem to learn to check Dave's before I start cutting or digging or planting!

LOL Sylvi - I'm glad I'm not the only one!!!! :)

OK so here's another one on bulbs...just went to Smith and Hawken and picked up 15 Amaryllis bulbs for $2. each....

They were a little scruffy lookling and dried out and I don't want those nasty gnats in my house, so I heated up a bucket of water to 140 degrees and added 4 tablespoons of bleach and then for good measure threw in some Miracle Grow flower fertilizer....Now I am soaking them for a couple of hours on 'low' on the stove.

I think I read somewhere that that would 'Jump Start' amaryllis that were slow to bloom and it's also a way to kill off the bugs.

Question: Did I dream that or is it true? lol

Do you think I'm killing my bulbs?!

Thanks. t.