When Are You Planting Bulbs This Year?

Hartford Dave, I agree that you should pot them up, then if you get a big Jan thaw, you can just dig a hole and transplant the potted mass into the 8" deep hole. I have planted during a warm spell in Jan in southern Vt stray and forgotten tulips and narcissus and they did just fine.

But what kind of numbers are you dealing with and what kind of bulbs? That may make us rethink your problem.

I would think if your ground had frozen solid you could just lay the bulbs on the frozen ground then get a load of dirt and make a raised bed (6" to 8") over the scattered bulbs with the new dirt and leaves. i would assume that would work for a big pile of bulbs. Then after they bloom you could move the dirt to your garden beds and replant the bulbs where you really intended to plant them. But I have lots of hair brained ideas. Patti

That's not a hair brained idea! It's great! I finally inspected my 500 bulbs that I never planted this fall and they're perfect. I'da thought they'd have been moldy or rotted by now. They were sitting in my trunk for months since I bought them.

I think I'm gonna try your idea... just gotta de-frost my bags of soil....

That's not a bad idea, Patti, but depending how many bulbs & how much dirt, I would try to contain the dirt somehow so it doesn't create a muddy mess. Also, it may be better to put a few inches down first, then plant the bulbs and dump the rest on top to the proper depth. That way the bulb roots can grow down into the soil and not start out with the 'frozen solid floor' beneath them. It will also better allow planting them right side up. Just my two cents.

Welcome Dave. What is it with Daves, DG and CT??

Victor, so how about if they put down some black plastic for a few days over the frozen dirt which with a couple of sunny days above freezing will soften the area up a bit then do the bulbs under the dirt and then ring the raised dirt bed with firewood logs, if you have any which could be reused come spring. Failing the logs, rocks or chicken wire lined with the black plastic or layers of newspaper. The latter not so pretty, but you could take it down when the bulbs start to bloom. Patti

which takes me back to my pre-camera question...

Sounds good Patti!

so the newspaper thing might work?

Wow! What great ideas!

amethystsm, I think that might have helped but it has been so cold. Let us know.Throw over some black plastic bags to help with the solar collection to warm that soil up some more. You are suppose to be getting warmer days (40's) with sun so you should be able to plant later this week. We are too. But don't get carried away if you soil really heats up and plant an early crop of tomatoes.

But then last night I was bad and happened to buy a few more bulbs on Bulbmeisters eBay sale. How could I not buy 455 bulbs for 61.00 including 3day shipping. They can all be planted with a dibble, so they will go in very quickly. Patti

Crocus chrysanthus 'Herald' - 25 Bulbs 4.26
Crocus chrysanthus 'Miss Vain' - 200 Bulbs 5.51
Iris 'Katharine Hodgkin' - 50 Bulbs 16.13 One of my most fav spring bulbs, always.
Iris histrioides 'George' - 75 Bulbs 2.25
Iris reticulata 'J.S. Dijt' - 75 Bulbs 8.51
Narcissus VIII 'Golden Dawn' - 30 Bulbs 5.50

Maybe everyone should send their unplanted bulbs to you, Patti!

Patti - SEEK HELP!!

Help? Victor, are you coming to visit and bringing a trowel? So nice especially since I am in recovery this morning profoundly scattering experience that we had last night. We were hanging the penultimate ornament on a 9' tree that was ridiculously hung with a zillions ornament and the whole tree tipped over. I was standing in front of it admiring our many hours of the perfect placement of each ornament as it fell with a resounding thud followed by the not so dulcet sounds of scattering glass. Our own little Kristallnacht. We hoisted it back up and had a new batch fall and shatter as we lifted it. I am avoiding the living room it this morning.

But I sense a common thread in my ornament consumption and bulb mania. Too many. Problem solved with the ornaments, now which bulbs are edible? It could have been an amazing U tube hit if we had been filming. No one except us will notice that the tree is less hung than usual. Ok, Victor, pipe up.

We do have a sense of humor so I emailed pictures to a lot of friends. I slept with one eye open last night afraid it might topple over again. DH says it had something to do with a very crooked stem. But it had been up for 4 days with just the lights on it and the flock of little red birds that we place at the top. The birds and the lights (except one strand) all are fine. That was a "good thing" How would Martha handle this? I will post pictures later. Patti, an xmas elf failure.

Great story, Patti. You're a natural writer and I'm so glad we have you on the NE forum.

My daughter's tree fell over after a few days, too, as she moved one present to add more water. With a son at 21 months old she had to close the doors to the room due to the shattered glass. You are not alone!

Funny Patti! Waiting for the pictures of the 'less hung than usual' tree.

You're far too subdued, Victor. Are you feeling well? Or is this that effort of being good right before Christmas?

Santa's watching!

I just knew it! I haven't had to give a "Victor!" for at least 36 hours.

Patti, you're going to love iris histriodes George. It's my absolute favorite of all the little iris bulbs. And it returns reliably for me for over 10 years now, multiplying well.

Did you plant scilla hyacinthoides, or whatever they might be called this week? That's my other all time favorite. The blue one.

I would be so upset over the ornaments. Most I have were from my grandparents. But a good attitude you have there.

All, I am about to restart the hanging of the less than well hung tree in Victors honor. The good news is that I discovered another stored box of ornaments which had some good ones in it, not the best, but not the "dreaded go immediately to the back of the tree",spit backs which of course all survived.

Pollyk, I am so happy that I will love 'George', I hope my husband likes him too. But I did get him a 'Katharine Hodgkin' who he is very fond of. I did plant just 10 of Scilla Excelsior Hyacinthoides 4.00 for 10 12" tall blooms in late spring -Wood hyacinths; bell-shaped blue flowers with thick green foliage; great naturalizers (from my journal notes). Is this the good one?

See how easily I forget about a trash can full of old memories and friends when I can see bulbs dancing in my head. Patti

Who needs memories clogging your head when you have bulbs?!

Oh Patti! I bust my side laughing ... well, also, I'm sorry to hear about your toppling tree, but you told the story well.

Well it is all redone. My DH who is a working boat guy (he brings in the oil tankers) decided that the tree was was still precarious with its severely twisted trunk(more crooked than a politician) and that it needed an anchor. So the big the question was a mushroom or a Danforth, but I suggested a big old flat rock from the new endless stream would work fine.

So he set an anchor to the east. Now it is going no where fast unless it catapults the huge stone over it's top and into the Christmas fray. I could probably pass the rock off as a gift with all the festive blue line tied to it. Not quite Tiffany blue, but close. I have no idea why DH has blue boat line. But no one can see the trussed up rock unless they were hell bent on going behind the tree just to knock it over again. I will re-photography the tree and post them tomorrow with the pictures of what it should l have look like from last year. We left some severely injured ornaments on it as a nod to inclusiveness. I just talked to a dear friend in NYC who had the same thing happen to them years ago. So I feel better than the fool that I am. It is worth laughing about, so I grant you all permission to enjoy our misadventure. Patti

wow. i was biting my tongue this morning NOT to comment on the less well hung tree.
but i am glad it is no longer insecure.

I am eagerly looking forward to the photos, Patti, but doubt they will exceed our imaginations on this one - great story telling!! Tomorrow I'll be sure to ask how it's hanging.

I guess you don't want any Christmas gifts, Victor!

Patti - I love the story about your tree and the rock "tied up with" blue boat line.

When I was 19 and we were decorating the tree I hated the look of the wires from the Christmas lights so I used a roll of scotch tape to get them out of sight. When it was time for the tree to come down my parents said they'd never allow me to decorate a tree again. They had a terrible time trying to get the lights and tape off the branches.

Patti,

That is the good scilla.

I can't wait to see photos either.

Ours started to tip one year, and ever since we have tied it up to the wall.

We tied ours up at my parents house, to the French door hinges. Good insurance.

Ok here is the tree last year. It all its glory. Patti

OK, here is this year tree in its various stages, a little less grand, but still standing as of today. Patti

Whoa, last year's tree is huge! Wow! Nice shot of all the broken ornaments.

I definitely prefer it in the upright position!

Ohhhhh, Patti!

Did you guys scare the new Dave away? I'm gone for a couple of days getting my laptop improved and you scare of my namesake by telling him to plant his bulbs:
in the ground
in pots
in raised beds
in raised beds on thawed ground

No wonder he hasn't come back!

But seriously folks, my tree had the good manners to fall over before it was decorated.

I think Douglas firs aren't hung as well as Balsams.

Still planting and RAN from the Coop thread on lilies because DH would kill me.......LOL Next year, oh yeah!

I agree Patti - last year's was awesome! And what a perfect place. More important, how did you get Paul James to stand in the background of the hung over tree?!!

dave47, I guess it was just poor parenting on our part, cause our tree had no manners what so ever. Plus it made a really rude noise when it hit the floor.

I thought our help to the new Dave was apropos to any good brainstorming session. Come up with every possible solution and make no promises nor come up with a final plan. I could have just suggested he send his unplanted ones to me, so I would do the most logical thing as yet not suggested, and rent a jack hammer to do the job in short order in the frozen ground. Get 'er done.

Are you suggesting that Victor is a Douglas?

Victor, It is just a cut out of Paul that I keep around to help me try to be a real gardener. Patti

My balsams are fine, I'm happy to report.

I just bought a 'pike'. It's a long (4 or 5 feet) iron rod with a blade on the tip. It's heavy as all heck, but it's supposed to be able to make a hole in the frozen ground with no sweat. I'll tell you how it works!!!

Harper

I have one of those. Be careful - they are very heavy and you can easily get hurt with it. Mine has a flathead screwdriver type blade on one end and a point on the other. My first winter with the pond I tried to use it like a spear to break the ice so I could get me heater in. Well I went with it! That was cold! I use it for stubborn rocks and roots.

Patti, I was teasing about the abundance of advice. Although this is looking like the thread Jan started to introduce her friend (Do you remember that?)

Victor, you can hang balls off a douglas or a balsam but the latter lasts longer.

I read that cracking ice over a pond could kill the fish (intense reverberation) they suggested a pot of boiling water which would slowly melt through the ice.