Planting Time for Bulbs

I'm new to the East Coast (from So. Cal.). I have a ton of bulbs I want to plant. But every time I think "today's the day," the temperature hits 72 degrees. (Just as it will 2 days this week.) We've already had two frosts (Sat and Sun).

Am I waiting too long? I'm supposed to be able to plant bulbs through November, but what if the first frost of the season has come and gone?

Also, I know that bulbs are supposed to grow well in sunny areas ... but, the area that I HAVE to plant them doesn't really get any direct sunlight until about an hour before the sun sets. Will they still grow? I live in an apartment so I don't really have a choice about where to plant them.

Thank you very much!

I planted tulip bulbs last year the end of November and they bloomed. I think they just need to be chilled/frozen for about 12 weeks. I believe as long as the ground is workable, you're OK. I live less than 2 hours from you. For our area the frozen months are really Jan, Feb, March anyway.

Maybe try a bulb that likes shade, like Spanish hyacinths. I bought some this year, under a different name English Wood Hyacinth's, from Breck's. Supposed to be very low maintenance and like shade. I guess I'll know more about them this spring!

Hi, Sybrrgal--

I moved here (Zone 6a) almost three years ago from Pasadena, CA, and had to learn new ways to garden, too. Lots of fun and help on DG so my garden is really taking shape! So I wish you good luck.

I can't answer about bulbs for shade in an apartment garden (balcony?), because I haven't had a lot of luck in shady spots...I did plant spanish hyacinths, camassia, and narcissus 'actea' in our woodland garden, but didn't have a lot of success--deer, moles, who knows?....

In any case, I think you have a lot of time to plant bulbs. The first year here I over-ordered bulbs and was planting on New Year's day and surprisingly, they did OK. (I just laid the bulbs out on the ground and poured bags of planting mix on top of them.) I wouldn't recommend that timing, but in emergencies....

Late planting worked out fine for me last year; I was still planting bulbs in December. I kept them in the fridg till I got them all in the ground. Is your shade from deciduous trees or from something that shades the area year round? Under deciduous trees spring bulbs typically get enough sun before the leaves emerge to recharge the bulbs for next years bloom. The bulbs already have everything they need to bloom well the first year whether in sun or shade; the sun issue is more about helping them perennialize. If you're growing them as annuals I don't think it will matter.
Good luck!
Neal

I live in a downstairs apartment. I have the whole front area to garden. My garden area faces North. So, because the buildings are on my East and West side, it doesn't see much sun. When it does get over the top of the roofs on either side, there are two huge oak trees (about 100 feet away on each side) blocking direct sunlight.

My hope is to have the bulbs be perennial ... but I'll see how that goes!

We're having 72 degree weather tomorrow and Thurs. And I'm going on vacation to NY for a week on Sunday ... so I'm hoping that I'll be able to plant on Sat.

Will the bulbs be okay if it gets above 60 degrees after I plant them?

I can't wait to see some color here! I'll be so disappointed if nothing grows!

Have a great day and thanks for all the advice.

The idea is the soil is supposed to be cool...I've read different things,50 degrees or so. There are people around here planting them, I'm sure it's fine to plant them now, but there's still plenty of time

Remember that those two huge oak trees won't be providing shade this spring when your bulbs are flowering and growing, so they may be getting more light than you can estimate right now. The bulbs won't mind a few warm days after planting, although sometimes mine try to sprout when we have one of those weird January warm spells... I keep telling them, no, no, go back, it's not time, you'll freeze... and then I throw a little extra mulch on them (or not), and they're fine. Grape hyacinths often put up a bunch of foliage in fall/winter, but it's nothing to worry about, they seem to know what they're doing and will bloom like mad come spring.

You might also like to try forcing some bulbs over the winter. I'm sure there's a thread about that somewhere... I'm of no help, though, as I've had rather mixed success with just about everything other than amaryllis.

You do have a lot of shade. I also live in a north facing apartment, but I have some sun six floors up from both east and west. I probably get about 4-6 hours sun. I still plant all my bulbs as annuals, a little expensive, I know, but I want to be able to count on having color out there. Your best best is tulips. As gemini said, bulbs already have enough in them to bloom the first year. And since tulips are generally not perennial, you may have to plant new ones every year. I also plant lilies, daffodils, grape hyacinths, and a bunch of the smaller bulbs. Sometimes they do well, sometimes not. It all depends on how good I am at keeping them watered once a month or so if we don't get enough moisture.

The trick is to plant them when the weather is settled cool, otherwise you do have to be concerned about top growth (except for the grape hyacinths which do emerge in the fall and winter months). Mulch them with about 2" of something AFTER the ground freezes to prevent them being heaved out of the ground during a thaw, and then remove the mulch when the first leaves start showing.

What the heck, give it a fling and call it an experiment. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I read in one of the bulb catalogs that it's time to plant bulbs when it's sweater-wearing time and you turn your car heater on all the time. Revclaus mentioned "when the weather is settled cool" is an excellent advice and an indicator for planting bulbs. For me, that will be after Thanksgiving, going into December. Even though I live in south Georgia, we do have freezes in Jan and Feb.

Deborah

You can plant them now or wait a little while longer, as long as the soil is workable you're good. Get them in before the ground freezes.

Tom

In Colorado, I don't know if the weather is ever "settled cool." We can have blizzards in May and 70 degree temperatures on Christmas. I'm going to see if I can get more of mine in this weekend, although it's supposed to be in the forties and rainy. Won't make for a happy afternoon.

I just ordered some green goddess calla bulbs. Does anybody else grow these? Is there anything special I should do besides stick them in soil in the shade ?