I posted a question on the Bulbs forum, however, I haven't gotten an answer from someone familiar with my zone or growing conditions. One of the DG members suggested I post on the Texas Gardening forum, and I thought....what a wonderful idea!! I have never grown any kind of spring bulbs before...I have only grown caladium bulbs. I love tulips and hyacinth bulbs and would like to try to have some come up for me in the spring. I want to try to sell my house in the spring and thought that they would be a lovely touch for my flower bed. I have no clue what to do. Can someone advise me when I should plant them?
Planting Bulbs for Spring in TX
Tulips and hyacinths need 15 weeks of cold, so I have put them in the fridge in Sept. It won't get cold enough to put them in the ground then. I put them out in March and they never did bloom, I haven't tried again, but I miss those pretty spring bulbs.
Are you moving to Spring? That's close to here so you would have my zone.
Or do you mean Austin?
I do mean in Austin, but to plant in the spring. I can see how you would understand Spring, TX....I should have been more clear.
I haven't ever grown either of them, but man they are gorgeous. I have to try some for spring time. :-)
They need 40 - 45 degree temps for about 15 weeks, I'm not sure if Austin gets those temps. You could try the fridge trick, maybe it's worked for others. I should try it again, I love tulips and hyacinths too.
ms_merae, whenever I do spring bulbs, the ones that need chilling go in the fridge mid-late Sept. Then I plant them late Dec - early Jan. You still have time to start chilling them if you don't delay in obtaining some.
I chill tulips, crocus, and hyacinths. However, I've not found it necessary to chill daffodills. My daffs multiply and come back year after year with plently of blooms. They do need divided occasionally, though.
Another thing about daffodills that you'll want to consider is when to cut back the foliage. When the plants stop blooming, the foliage will start to look ratty and begin to die back. Just know that if you cut them back too soon, sufficient energy for next year isn't put back into the bulb. So try and wait at least a couple of weeks after this starts to happen before you lop them back.
Same goes for tulips, but as those would need pre-chilled again for the next year, you'd want to dig them and store them after this process takes place. In other words, don't be tempted to dig them too soon.
Many folks I know prefer to buy new tulip bulbs each year, and just pull them up as soon as they stop blooming.
There are also some tulip cultivars available that don't need the pre-chilling, but I've never gotten around to experimenting with them. ;)
Thanks for the information!
I sure am glad I posted as it looks like I need to start now! I am sincerely thankful for you letting me know specifically what to do and when. I will take advantage of this weekend to make some selections and order. I didn't even think about daffodils so I will be looking into those and a few other bulbs that others have mentioned. This will all be new to me, so I am looking forward to it and hope all goes well.
I have never even heard of crocus, so it seems like I do indeed have some researching to do. :-)
Hi everyone!
I posted a question on the Bulbs forum, and a fellow DG'er suggested I chek out this thread because of weather similarities between Texas and Lisbon..
I've just planted some crocus and freesias and I'm getting worried... In the nursery they said I could just put them in the ground, no pre-chilling needed.
However, we hardly have temps around 40ºF, except at night, during the winter - I would say from mid November into Feb..
What do you think?
Thanks!
Last night I went to a cool bulb seminar for southern gardenerns. It was put on from a company that hunts for old southern bulbs, digs them up, then propegates them. All their varieties work in Texas (they're Aggies!), and require no chilling or digging up after the season ends. They're called the Southern Bulb Company - am I allowed to post a link to their site?
I can't see going to the trouble of planting tulips. The season is just way too short for me and all that work and they do not natualize. Most everything else will, tho - but sometimes not too well and also not for more than a couple of years. We are supposed to have a mild winter w/more rain than usual (?). By "spring" the wind starts really blowing and blows fragile bulb blooms to the 4 winds so the only bulbs I have are BOP (if that is indeed a bulb) and amaryllis that I get at Christmas time and changes its time of bloom to spring. Just my 2 cents worth.
Ann
You could plant bulbs in pots and sit them out in the Spring so they brighten up the yard and look nice. But when you sell the property, anything in pots go with you!
Supposedly the species tulips don't require a cold period, I haven't tried them yet.
Have any of you tried them?
I'm really a first timer with bulbs, and I've always had the notion (maybe wrong, Iwouldn't be sure!) that tulips are a load of trouble if you don't have the exact conditions they like..
But the crocus and the freesias "sounded" so easy I decided to give it a go!
PlantLady, all my plants are in containers anyway, I only have a balcony..! LOL!
OK, hopefully I'll have good news, and let you know how this bulb thing went..
In the meantime, all suggestions are helpful!
Thanks everyone!
AggieCorgi, i was at the lecture too!! I wasn't able to get to the back to get any bulbs before they were all gone. Drat.. But those Byzantine Glads sure sounded nice. I looked at the web site and the nearest nurseries around us that carry their products are Moosefeathers in Brenham and Arbor Gate in Tomball. Have you been to either one?nancy
MyHiraeth - May I ask, are you Welsh? Hence the word
"hiraeth" - a homesickness or a longing?
My husband was Welsh and Irish, that's why I ask.
teacup, I was in the last row because my friend and I were late. I was able to get some of the snowbells, but also wanted some of the byzantine glads. I haven't been to any of those nurseries, but I'd like to go to both. Last night was funny, I stood in line and had all these women stampede and cut! I got the last 2 of the snowbells once I finally got to the front. I guess when southern bulbs are on sale they just can't help themselves.
In another talk I went to (at Martha's Bloomers in Navasota) I got some southern narsissis (can't spell!;)) that don't need cold. I plan to plant all these this month. Hopefully some will naturalize!
My hyacinths and Daffs are in the ground and come back year after year... now tulips on the other hand never bloom for me no matter what I do...
Thanks yall, I'm just in time to refrigerate some white hyacinths, the plan is to sink them by first week of December..and I will see what happens. I have made every mistake you can imagine with bulbs, lol. Now something about this makes excellent sense. I have a few different bulbs that do stay in, and they have finally gotten some steam.
Thx for opening this topic ms_merae.
Debnes
Debnes,
The key I think is to plant them where the soil stays reasonably dry and make sure they don't get waterlogged and you'll find that most bulbs planted fairly deep in decent soil come back - raised beds are ideal for drainage purposes. I have had the same experience as Mitch with the hyacinths and daffodils and do not refrigerate either of them - and find they come back just fine. I do refrigerate tulips but have found that for the most part they'll bloom first spring following planting but then do not return the year after that except for a few strays here and there.
Last night at the lecture Chris from Southern Bulbs said they were working with an heirloom tulip that would naturalize in texas. But it wasn't ready for this year, maybe next. I think he said it was red or red and white. Can't wait for that one, but I bet it will be expensive when it is newly released.nancy
Mahnot... Croeso!
No, I'm not welsh, or should I say I wasn't born in Wales... I'm just welsh at heart!
I fell in love with welsh culture a few years ago, when I first heard Bryn Terfel sing welsh songs and hymns... the sound of welsh is so sweet that I decided to study it...(yes, I'm a crazy person, LOL!) hence Hiraeth as my user name... because there arent' many languages that have a specific word to express the feeling of longing! In portuguese, the word is "saudade" - reads just as you would in welsh, except the "u" reads "oo" and not "ee"...
It's nice to find a fellow gardener that recognizes hiraeth! You made my day! :-) Diolch!
What part of Wales was your husband from?
It is extra work, but I have been planting a small bed with tulips the last few years. If you don't want to chill the bulbs yourself, you might call around and see if any local nurseries pre-chill their bulbs. Northhaven Gardens, up here in Dallas, keeps their tulip bulbs in a walk in cooler, so you just go in there in December and buy the plants ready to plant.
If you want to chill them yourself, then give them at least 6 weeks in the fridge and then plant them sometime in mid to late December. Also, DO NOT put them in the fridge next to apples. Apples give off a gas that will hurt the bulbs.
One other hint. You don't have to plant them as deep as they say in the instructions. The deep planting is listed for areas where they return. I squeeze them in between plantings of Pansies, pushing them down in the soil so that they are covered by at least on inch of soil.
I know some people say hyacinths don't need chilling. I have planted them twice, once pre-chilled and once not. They all came up and bloomed the time I chilled them. The ones not prechilled - only a few bloomed.
Great tip about the apple gas! Thanks!
I think I'll get some new bulbs and try chilling them. And then see the difference..... I do wish they would flower sooner! I have hardly any flowers by now, just the last bursts from my petunia window boxes...!
MyHiraeth - When the Welsh sing, it stops my heart.
My husband was born here, but his family is originally of
Welsh descent, having found their way to Ireland in about
1260 AD. I once saw a site on Google that there is a
scholarship for those who want to study Welsh in Wales -
all expenses paid, if I remember correctly.
If you ever get a chance and have not seen it, see if you can
find "How Green Was My Valley" with Walter Pidgeon (sp)
and Maureen O'Hara. The film is in black and white. When you
hear the miners singing on their way home from the mines, you
will want to weep for joy. I wish they would show it on TV once
in a while.
Every good wish.
Anita
Edited to add: http://www.reelclassics.com/Movies/HGV/hgv.htm
This message was edited Sep 20, 2006 1:03 PM
Oh Plantlady--there are about a hundred bulbs that naturalize very well in Houston...they just aren't tulips. But there are many narcissus, ipheons, sternbergias, Zeph species, 3 Cooperia spp, many habranthus spp, oxalis, schoenocaulon, lycoris, crinum, amaricrinum, neomarcia gracilis, crocosima, freesia laxa or lapeirousa laxa is an excellent spring blooming naturalizing underutilized bulb, alliums, a bunch of bog growers, nemastylis geminiflora, claytonia virginica, herbertia lahue, and other native spring/summer/fall bulbs that do extremely well here . I've been doing them for 15 years.
Oh, and the oxbloods, forget them--lol ;)
This message was edited Sep 20, 2006 8:57 PM
Anita, it stops your heart and mine too! This morning I was listening to a beautiful song of praise called "Cwm Rhondda", for the unpteenth time, with tears in my eyes...
I've seen "How green was my valley", it's one of my all-time favourite films!
And yes, it's true, you can study welsh for free.. it's one of my long term plans..! At the moment, with a small child, a DH and a job that I need to keep, my hands are rather full.. ;-)
Feel free to Dmail anytime!
Love
Fernanda
The americrinum takes my breath away everytime I see a picture.
I can give you one at RU to go along with your vitex. =)
Wow, I am speechless. Thank you so much! I can't wait.
Merae--they do say that one is the loneliest number so we really do need to give that vitex a friend to ride home with. ;)
I have excellent luck with Jonquils. They come up every year and stay in bloom for weeks. They also multiply. The bulbs have been pre-chilled when I receive them so I just plant them and wait for their pretty yellow spring blooms.
I have had great luck with the daffodil called "Seventeen Sisters" , also known as "Avalanche" .. We are in deep east Texas.They naturalize and each stem has multiple, aromatic blooms..... It is an old Heirloom daffodil and a wonderful performer here..
Debbie - I am so excited about the americrinum. I am also finally getting a chance to sit down and do some research on what other bulbs I want to plant. I will be checking your references above and the dmail you sent me a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for your help.
I just purchased some gorgeous tulips from an Austin based company that Bigbubbles referenced me to. The website is texastulips.com They get their tulips internationally and chill them for you until it is time for them to deliver to you. Then they recommend you keep chilled until you plant. I have lots more to buy but started off with that this morning. They are gorgeous. If you are interested I chose 'Leen van der Mark', "Mickey Mouse', 'World Expression', 'Purple Flag', and 'Purissima'
If you are having trouble finding any of the above listed bulbs I listed Merae, I can direct you to where to find them.
Debbie - Can you direct me to these....I can't find pictures of them to know what they are. . neomarcia gracilis and crocosima
Thank you.
Two letters are swapped... It's crocosmia.
like I said..my spelling when I'm in a hurry really leaves alot to be desired. This has been answered on the other thread.
My Mireath
freesias bloom at temps between the 50s and 70s so they should be very happy where you are. I'll bet the crocus do just fine as well. The problem in Texas lies in our big swings of temperature. It can be 25 today and 70 tomorrow. The poor bulbs get really confused. So if your temps are more even tempered you should be just fine. Without the cold, you'll get growth faster. If you do decide to do tulips, then you'd better chill them in zone 10.
good luck
cynthia
Thank you Cynthia!
Well, let's hope this year's temps are steadier, because we do tend to have periods when we don't really know what season we're in anymore!
So far, temps have begun to drop steadily, getting a bit cooler, windier and more wet everyday (thank God, I've had enough of summer by now!)
Well, we'll see what happens - they are in the ground, I hope they do bloom!!!!
loveshercowdog - The weather sure can be confusing to the plants and everything else, can't it?!? The temperature changes can be especially different here in Austin. I do have to say though, that me personally.....I love it. I love the weather just like it is now. I can stand just a bit colder, but not for many days. I would prefer it to start out cool and warm up during the afternoons and cool down in the evenings. I love feeling the sun on my face and the gentle breeze.
Today was absolute perfection down here.