Bulb Challenged, I guess...

I know I planted some bulbs with my girls last fall. Joy was born before I got most in the ground (she was 2 weeks early - LOL), but I am certain a few got in there before she came! Yet, no sign of them at all. Not at all. I noticed over the last 2 months that the area where I clearly remember planting atleast a dozen stayed rather wet. Could they have rotted?

LOL, when my DM was first learning about gardening, she coerced her mother to go in with her on a huge bulb order from a mail order company. My grandma did NOT garden, nor did she want to, but she obliged my mom and agreed. So they ordered a ton of bulbs and Mom got all excited. When they arrived, Mom took the bulbs to Grandma's and laid them out all over the kitchen, sorting them and getting more and more excited (my dear Grandma was a very patient woman). Then Mom got Grandma out there, digging, and planting, and smiling (I think). Oh how pretty they'd be next Spring! Well, next Spring came and Mom was out looking for green nearly every chance she got. She kept looking. She kept looking. No green. All spring long, no green. What went wrong??? Dejected, she sought help from a friend. Upon digging a bit in the spot where the bulbs were planted the previous Fall, her friend immediately knew what the trouble was. Can you guess? Mom, with my poor Grandma blindly following her newbie gardening zeal, had planted every last one of those bulbs upside down! LOL :) Oh, dear. Is it possible that I did THAT??? LOL :)

1. if the area stays very wet in winter, bulbs will likely have rotted. If no growth within next 4 weeks, I would declare a total loss. Drainage, Drainage, Drainage.. the 3 most important things to remember when planting bulbs.

2. some bulbs perennialize (come back) better than others. for maximum chance, deadhead (cut spent flower) after blooming year one, but do not cut the leaves off. Let the foliage mature (turn yellow and wither) on it's own. This typically takes 4-6 weeks after flowering. The green leaves recharge the bulb for next year's bloom. Also fertilize atleast twice: once when the plants stick their noses over the soil, and again just before or during flowering. Use a flowering formular fertilizer. Better perennializers include hyacinths, crocus, daffodils, scallia, lilies, and allium. Poorer perennializers must be tulips.

huga--have you noticed my angst about the very same issues on this thread--

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/489239/ ?

Although some DGers have given reassurances, on days like today, I am sure the super wet weather this winter/spring has rotted out the bulbs. Yet, at times I continue to hope otherwise...

This is a picture of my meagre showing so far...a few miniatures--I think either Jack Snipe, Little Gem or Jet Fire...cant' decide quite which ones are which yet. Bought the miniature mix (and others) from VanEngelen and then 'close out' bags from the Garden Center.

I looked at the Weather report for tomorrow and it said 66 degrees and sun, so I am hoping some of this water dries up and the right hormones kick in on my daffs yet to show...

Have a good week. t.

Well, dig up just a couple of bulbs if you can. This may indicate the problem. There have been quite a few threads on this, this year.

Here is mine:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/490164/

Good luck! I'm sure it will all be spectacular if they show!
J

Could be any number of things. Might be that they rotted. Might be that gophers, moles, or other critters ate the bulbs. Could even be that you didn't plant them at the correct depth. Or, if you're very lucky, they may just not have decided to poke up yet. Be patient a little longer, as kdjoergensen has suggested, before you give up hope. What kind of bulbs are/were they?

I loved your story, btw!

I planted some year before last and they are just coming up this year.

Michelle

Oh Michelle, I can't believe that your handle is 'Witch'. People from Texas are so nice, you must be too. 8=}

Glenda was a good witch. :)

Jacci, what did you plant? Did you have instructions that told you how deep to plant them? If they are planted upside down or too deep, they will usually show up but later. My bulbs in the rear of the house come up a few weeks later than the ones in the front simply because of the difference in sunlight, which in turn, influences the warmth of the soil.

Oh dear, I don't remember what they were :) I was really hoping I wouldn't have to confess that! LOL :) The day I planted the whatever-they-ares was one of those, "let's run outside and see how many of these we can plant before the girls completely melt down" days, and I didn't get past a dozen or so. "Later", as I said, never came because Joy was born. So, they were either daffs, tulips, or crocus. LOL :) That narrows it down, huh? I'm pretty sure they were daffs, though (?) LOL :)

I know that I had a ruler out with me to measure the depth. So, I don't think that's it. This was our first winter in Ohio, and I was really surprised at how WET everything in the backyard was! As far as drainage goes, machinery totalling several tons was rolling around on this lot just over a year ago. "Drainage" is poor. Likely they rotted out, I'll dig em up during one of the pretty days this week. They're supposed to come... we'll see ;)

I have my fingers crossed for you, very tight!

You know, Texas is the Witch Capital of the country. Kinda like Utah is the Mormon Capital.

There are tons of Witches on Texas! ...and yes, I am a good one.

Edited to say: and I know this b/c I lived in Utah for 3 years.

Michelle

This message was edited Mar 28, 2005 8:13 PM

Oh sure...I forgot all about the good ones 8=0

:)

Well, maybe I'll wait a bit longer before I dig em all up. If they come up, though, I will be extremely surprised! They've had full sun all winter, it's the warmest place they're gonna git! :) I'll let you know...
I'll give them until mid-April before I start digging. I haven't seen even a bit of green, yet though :(

Hugs :)

huga - what a woman, planting bulbs so close to giving birth! I understand why you are not sure what you planted.

Last Dec and I still had 40 tulips to get into the ground but I also had sinus surgery and naturally, afterward I could not bend myhead down at all. Forunately my DH is a true Dear and he planted them for me. I see their heads peaking out of the ground recently. There have been times when I planted something and waited excitedly for it to grow, but nothing came of it. Can't explain it. I now force myself to write down what I plant (and where) and I throw the information into my gardening info box. Now, to get all that information into a document so that I can refer to it, well, that's another story. Fall is the toughest time to keep up with what was planted where because so much work comes due in fall.

Merry Meet Witch! There are quite a few of us in Tennessee as well!

Hugahosta,
I planted mine when I was preggo too - the ones that didn't show their face until this year. Weird, huh?! Maybe we planted them upside-down or something!
Michelle

Merry Meet, TammyTN!