Growing Concerns: To get spring garden colour, do work now

Article content

Last week, I discussed creating a display of spring flowering bulbs that starts in early March and continues through early June. Today, let’s focus on buying, storing and planting spring bulbs.

Article content

If we want a show of spring colour, we need to do the work now. Spring bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, snowdrops need to be purchased and planted now so they can perform in the spring.

When buying bulbs to plant for your spring show, look for bulbs that are firm and free of blemishes. They should look and feel like cooking onions, firm to the touch and with their skins intact. There should be no mould or fuzziness to the bulb. Be careful buying bulbs packaged in plastic bags with no air holes, since they’ll be the first to go mouldy.

Store your newly purchased bulbs in a cool, dark place away from too much humidity, such as a cool basement or cold cellar. Or if you’re like me and apt to forget about them till next spring, plant them now and get that job out of the way.

Article content

It is a bit of a challenge to plant now, with gardens full of plants and leaves. But think about where you have empty spots in the spring. I refer to all the pictures I took of my last garden in the spring. There is always room under plants like hostas, which take up so much space in the garden all summer, but are still dormant when bulbs bloom.

The secret is to plant bulbs twice as deep as the bulb is tall. Tulips are usually about five centimetres tall, so they need to be planted about 10 cm deep. Crocus are about 2.5 cm tall, so plant them 5 cm deep.

When you plant bulbs at the correct depth, the bloom will come at the right time as the soil warms in the sun and the stem will have enough support from the ground to produce a beautiful flower. If you have bulbs in your garden that produce leaves, but never flower, they’re planted too deep, so dig them up and try again.

Article content

I like to plant my bulbs with hen manure. I find squirrels are not fans of its smell and tend to leave my bulbs alone. I am sure many of you have planted bulbs only to have squirrels dig them up, take a bite and leave them on the ground.

Squirrels are not as smart as we give them credit for, because they don’t remember where they plant their food stash. They just notice freshly dug soil and think that’s where they left their last stash. So when you’ve finished planting bulbs, you have two options: cultivate the entire garden so squirrels can’t see fresh dug areas; or water the entire garden and compact the soil back down so they can’t spot the new holes.

Next week, I’ll have more about protecting your bulbs from critters in our garden.

Growing Concerns is produced by Parkway Gardens. Send your gardening questions to Homes, c/o The London Free Press, 210 Dundas St., Suite 201, London, Ont., N6A 5J3.