Are they gonners?

Please say "have some patience!" I have a 20'x22' courtyard in front of my townhome. Northern Front Range in Loveland, Colorado. We just bought it last year. This courtyard is on the north side of our very tall townhome, so it receives no light until about mid February. Right now that only amounts to about 6' of it receiving light from noon till when the sun goes down. Otherwise, its cold and dark. The soil, or lack off shall I say was, 100% clay, hard clay. I thought I ammended it well enough to plant about 200 bulbs last fall! I ammended with compost, manure, peatmoss and this stuff called clay buster, little rock like stuff. When I planted the bulbs, the soil seemed really loose and fine. Seemed perfect to me. I applied a bark mulch for the winter. The bulbs were planted at 6" their deepest, daffs and tulips. Some of the Muscari and all of the dutch Iris sent up foilage in late October. So I though that was good. Well, now I see the daffs almost in full bloom around town and Tulips sending up foilage everywhere, even the Hyacinths, but these are all on exposed south areas. I checked my soil today and about the first 1" is thawed, however, there is a solid ice sheet under that. You can actually see ice, like a fozen lake. Did my bulbs rot! The water (ice) seems to be just sitting there, or maybe was it just that any precipitation that fell in early fall just hasn't thawed yet from a quick freeze? I'm just worried that the drainage in my yard is STILL poor and that everything will have rotted. I have seen three Tulips stick up little heads and about six daffs on that sun exposed part. That's it. Am I rushing it? Should I pull the mulch now? Our temps have been in the mid 50's for the last two weeks and mid 20's for lows at night. Anyone else in Colorado or zone 5 have any thoughts? I probably won't have somplete sunshine in the yard until mid April. I have some Shasta Daisys, Mums and Penstemon that still have nice, new green foilage at their bases. Maybe that's a good thing? I am also worried that the ice will not have thawed by the time the bulbs are supposed to be up, so when they do finally break through, it will be to warm for them. I don't even have any crocus up yet! Please tell me to just be patient and that I am being paranoid! I am new to gardening and I don't want my first big venture to be a complete pitfall!

Well, that's my novel, thanks!
J

Have patience.
The northside of a house will stay frozen much longer and it is not uncommon for bulbs to bloom even months later than southern exposures. Not to worry. The ice sheet you talk about is also very common. If you did your home work (and it sounded like you did) the bulbs will come. Don't worry.

StvNicksFan,

I know I am not in your zone, but I can tell you that even here the side of my yard with a northern exposure didn't have stuff coming up for 2 to 3 weeks after the southern exposed areas, so what kd says is true and I echo it. If your ground is frozen there, the temps are probably too low in your soil for much growth to occur. Be patient :-)

Thanks guys,
Good news to hear. I poked around today and am seeing life! The ice is slowly melting and I'm seeing all kinds of daffs and muscari, still no Crocus though, which is weird I think. I also have some Casa Grande Tulips poppin out, can't wait till those bloom, 12" flowers! And something really weird, I had about 24 bulbs go bad on me before I planted them, tulips. So, I figured what the heck, and threw em in with the compost and tilled away. Threw that compost into my little veggie garden and now I have 18 little tulips poking out! Where there is a will, there's a way I guess! I can't wait to post my pictures. Thanks for the reassurance!

J

J - funny you should mention crocus.

I live a hop, skip, and a jump away from you in Brighton and guess what - no crocus here either. I definately think that's a bit odd. I've got tulips, daffs, and other stuff growing out and up, but no crocus. I wonder why? -Christie

Here is a picture of my tiny little courtyard taken from the top of my townhome. The far right side is my little veggie garden with the mulched tulips. The top portion of the picture is where sun hits the most right now, this is where I am starting to see life. Looks so baren, yuck!

J

Ahh,
My familt is from that area, Brighton, Ft. Lupton and Platteville! How cool neighboor! Ya, it is weird, I've never planted a bulb before, but I thought Crocus was the first to come up? Maybe they're fast growers huh, and they'll caome up overnight! Nice to meet you and see you around Christie!

J

J- Nice to meet you too. Now I have someone to sound the alarm to when I run into a great plant sale!

Tulips in the compost - I love it!

I have bulbs coming up all the time that I had written off long ago. I planted a bunch of Dragon's Blood Sedum as a ground cover in my little shade garden and they've spread just perfectly (very nice effect). Now, just this year, I have bulbs coming up all through where they've spread! (another very nice effect).

Funny thing is, though, I haven't the foggiest what they are! Oh well, I love surprises! - Christie

J, that is a cute little garden. I love it. Mine look that bare right now too but I keep waiting!

Thanks sylvi,
This plot a been a pain in the arse for quite some time! We've had settling issues for the past year. Concretes been repoured and the whole yard sunk about 1' after we first lanscaped it last April. We got everything done, stone patio, plants, lights and all. Then, we gave it a good watering with the sprinkler. We went inside and came out 20 minutes later, and it had sunk! We were SO mad! The patio was the worst, that took a whole day to lay and level. I made the home owners warrenty do all the work LOL! But ya, neat yard. Hopefully we'll have enough plant protection from the neighboors that we can sit on our patio at night with privacy. It'll be a cool moon garden I think! Can't wait! Do you get jealous of all the southerners his time of year!

J

J

Could the crocus bulbs have been eaten by mice or gophers? Or perhaps the planting depth was wrong. You are right that they invariably appear and bloom before the dafs and tulips. There is always the chance that they did rot in the ground, but you'll find that something always happens with gardening. That's half the fun! Oh well, if not this year, they may come up next year when you least expect them and you'll have a pleasant surprise (like the tulips in the compost). 8=}

Rotting is a good possibility I guess. I don't have a problem with mice or gophers, so rotting maybe the only answer. I'm sure I had many rot, but, its my first time. I've heard of Klamath Falls. Where in Oregon is that exactly? Out family is in Florence. I'll be out there next month, I LOVE Oregon! Can't wait!

J

Well, we are on the eastern slope of the Cascades, in the south central part of the state, just a few miles north of the border with California. Or 'over the hill', as your family may say...hehehe. Our climate is very different from Florence (a lovely town, btw). Actually, I think we have more in common with Colorado than with the western part of Oregon. For example, we have an average rainfall of about 12 inches per year. We are at about 4200 ft above sea level. It is high desert here, with very cold snowy winters, hot summers, and a very short growing season. Ponderosa pines and Junipers are the predominant trees, the soil is alkaline, and even the cows we raise are different ;=]. Western Oregon - dairy cows. Eastern Oregon - beef cattle. I LOVE Oregon too - both parts!!! Hope you have a wonderful visit.

I found the Crocus! Whoo Who! I found the little sprouts this afternoon. I actually counted probaby over 100 bulbs coming up! SWEET!

Sharvis,
Are you anywhere near Grants Pass? We will be there too. We are looking for schools. I am going to study fitness and I want to be a trainer. I am very excited about flying out, not so much about Florence. All it ever does is rain rain rain, more than inland I believe. There averages are high. We'll be crusing North to South along I-5 and back up the 101. Yep, your climate does sound like ours, except the average rainfall. We have been ina drought for a few years, I hope Oregons isn't bad this year.

Laters!

Cleaned up the yard a little today. The forced bulbs were neglected on the back balcony, oops!

I'm happy for your crocus! This time of year I go outside and crawl around on my hands and knees, looking for the slightest signs of life. The neighbors already think I'm nuts, so who cares? I have found some tulip tips and rhododendron buds so far!
How awful to have the yard sink! And what a surprise that must have been. My father's yard (3/4 acre) has one little spot that has been sinking for 30 years. He's had it filled in at least ten times, but it just keeps sinking.

Stv,

I hope it isn't bad too. Unfortunately, we seem to be headed for another very dry year. The snowpack is extremly low and they are predicting drought conditions. Ugh. Anyhoo, we are about 100 miles northeast of Grants Pass, on the other side of the Cascade Range, which separates Western Oregon from Eastern Oregon. We're closer to Hwy 97 than I5 or 101. Hopefully, you'll have a terrific trip. There are plenty of fine schools for you to look at and consider. Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) is located in K. Falls. ;-]

Here is a shot of my Crocus finally peeking through! This is just too exciting! Ah, the thrills of your first flowers!

J

Love your courtyard garden!

Thanks Moonglow,
I have alot planned for it too. Maybe too much for a first year gardener. The old man next door liked to brag about his lats season, and I'm prepared to show him up this year! You should see my basement! Full of pots and seedlings and Brugs. I'm really hoping this will be a showstopper of a yard. I'm nervous about it though, I've spent quite a bit of money. But, it's all looking good right now. I'll be posting lots of pics.


J

j, we are on the same boat. first year gardener here! (can't resist the brugs, too, eh?)

yours will be a showstopper of a yard. we'll cheer you on!!! (ok, too much coffee...)

Hey all - my crocus are finally coming!!!!!!!!

Whew - nothing like a blizzard to perk things up a bit, I went out today to check on things now that the ground has dried (a little), and - lo and behold - I found 4 little crocus starting to peak up! -C

Hey! Good for you! The snoe did my Crocus is in, but the mini iris are strong. Now I'm waiting on the daffs....... Hum de dum ;)
I'm glad you didn't loose them after all! Can't believe all this snow is gone, already! Its just around the corner!

J

Just about all of our drifts have melted away - now we're just a big mud puddle! Oh well, my ducks are ecstatic - they spend all day running up and down the hill from lake to lake splashing around.

It is KILLING me, however, that I have some stuff to plant out and I know better than to mess with muddy ground, I'll totally wreck my soil - so I'll just sit here and bite my nails for a few days until stuff dries up a bit more :-)

It does look like some of my taller tulips got a bit mushed, so I guess I'll have some sideways blooms, but that's OK - everything else is going crazy, these spring storms are like speed for plants! _C