Brown Sugar Tulip Bulbs? 62 Most Correct Answers

AMES, Iowa — When their tulips and daffodils stop blooming, many gardeners wonder why. Gardeners at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach offer guidance on what to do when these spring favorites aren’t blooming.

Why aren’t my tulips blooming anymore?

Most modern tulip varieties bloom well for three to five years. Tulip bulbs lose vigor fairly quickly. Weak bulbs produce large, limp leaves but no buds.

To maximize the number of years that tulips bloom, choose planting locations that receive at least six hours of direct sun per day and have well-drained soil. Remove faded flowers immediately after the tulips have opened. The formation of seed pods deprives the bulbs of much of the nutrition made by the plant’s foliage. Finally, allow the tulip leaf to die off naturally before removing it. Tulips that don’t store enough nutrition in their bulbs won’t be able to bloom.

Dig up non-blooming tulips and discard the bulbs. (Small, weak tulip bulbs will likely never bloom again.) Plant new tulip bulbs in the fall.

While most modern varieties of tulips bloom well for three to five years, some species (classes) of tulips bloom well for longer periods. Darwin hybrid tulips are generally the longest flowering hybrid tulips. Fosteriana Tulips (also known as Imperial Tulips) also bloom well for many years.

My daffodils set leaves in the spring but never bloom again. Why?

If the daffodils don’t bloom, the plants weren’t able to store enough nutrition in their bulbs the previous year. Daffodil leaves usually persist four to six weeks after flowering. During this time, the daffodil leaf makes food. Much of the nutrition is transported to the bulbs. In order to flower, daffodils need to store sufficient nutrition in their bulbs.

Cutting off the foliage before it has naturally died can prevent the plants from storing enough nutrition in the bulbs. Allow the daffodil leaf to die off completely before removing it.

Plants in partial shade in May and June may not be able to store enough nutrition in their bulbs due to lack of sunlight. Dig up daffodils that grow in partial shade when the foliage has died back and plant the bulbs in a spot that gets at least six hours of direct sun a day.

Large clumps of daffodils may stop blooming due to overcrowding. Large clumps of daffodils can be dug up after the foliage has died back. Separate the bulbs and replant them immediately. Onions can also be dried for several days, placed in mesh bags, stored in a cool, dry place, and then planted in the fall. Weak (non-blooming) daffodils can be made to bloom again with good care and favorable growing conditions.

Photo credit: Maresol/stock.adobe.com

If you get tired of planting tulips every year, you can choose species and employ planting strategies that are more likely to result in a recurrence. (Handouts / MCT)

Gardening wisdom goes that if you want tulips, you need to plant new ones every fall.

Most tulips make a big spring splash and then wither. They may not return at all, or they may send out a few measly leaves and maybe a few mediocre blooms for a couple of years before dying out entirely.

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But there are exceptions.

If you get tired of planting tulips every year, you can choose species and employ planting strategies that are more likely to result in a recurrence. You won’t get the same dazzling display as you would with an annual planting, but you’ll save yourself some work.

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But first, a little explanation as to why tulips don’t bounce back so quickly.

Most of the tulip bulbs we buy have been cultivated, grown and specially selected to be plump and likely to produce a good size flower head. But after that first bloom, the mother bulb breaks down into smaller bulbs for reproduction, explained Becky Heath, one of the owners of Virginia mail order company Brent and Becky’s Bulbs. These tubers cannot store the energy needed to sprout a large flower next year.

However, some types of tulips are better at producing vigorous offspring. And all tulips thrive better when planted in the right spot and cared for properly.

So if you want your tulips to become perennial, here’s what you can do.

Choose the right types

Hybrid Giant Darwin Tulips, bred by crossing Fosteriana and the Old Darwin Tulips, are known to be good repeat performers. In fact, they are often marketed as perennial tulips.

Their bulbs don’t break apart easily, so they can generate a strong return, Heath said.

“They are something of a tulip powerhouse. … From a genetic point of view, they’re just incredibly strong,” said Jo-Anne van den Berg-Ohms of Connecticut mail order company John Scheepers Inc. She is the great-niece of Scheepers, who brought giant Darwin hybrids to the United States in the 1950s introduced.

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This type of tulip produces large flowers on sturdy stems. They come in a fairly wide range of colors, including some striped varieties.

Another group that tends to do well are fosteriana tulips, also known as imperial tulips, said Tim Schipper of Colorblends, a Connecticut company that sells tulip bulbs in bulk. Fosteriana tulips do well in northeast Ohio but not so well in more temperate areas, he said.

Fosterianas’ multi-year success is partly genetic, Schipper said, but also has to do with their earlier flowering period. Given good weather conditions, Fosteriana tulips have a long growing season, which gives them ample time to recharge their energy stores for the next year, he said.

They are slightly smaller than the Darwin hybrids and have large, elongated flowers.

Consider species tulips

Another way to encourage tulips to come back is to plant tulips, also known as botanical tulips. They are smaller, more delicate plants that more closely resemble their wild ancestors in appearance than the large tulips created through hybridization.

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Tulip species not only return year after year, but they reproduce, forming clumps that grow larger each year, a process known as naturalization. This process occurs when bulbs formed from the mother bulb grow large enough and split off to produce their own buds, van den Berg-Ohms explained.

Species tulips are about 5 to 12 inches tall, depending on the species. These include species like Tulipa biflora, a tiny white flower with a yellow center, and T. praestans fuselier, a multi-flowered tulip with a bright orange-red color.

These dainty plants add a little spark of color rather than a big splash, Schipper said. They do well in rock gardens, the edges of sidewalks, and along the drip lines of trees where they get enough sun to thrive.

Plant tulips properly

Schipper believes that one of the most important keys to propagating tulips is to change your thinking. Instead of being guided by where to grow your tulips, you need to consider where the flowers have the best chance of long-term survival.

“You have to think like a lightbulb,” he said.

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Tulips like soil with a neutral pH, good drainage, and plenty of sun for at least six hours a day. They are native to the mountainous regions of Central Asia, where winters are brutally cold and summers dry. The closer you get to those conditions, the happier you are, Schipper said.

Heath said well-drained soil is especially important in the summer. The bulbs then go dormant and “they want to sleep in a dry bed just like me,” she said.

Avoid planting too early in the season, Schipper said. Wait until daytime temperatures are in the 70s and nighttime temperatures are in the 40s, he said of the time when fall leaf color peaks.

By planting tulips deeper in the ground than other bulbs, you can help encourage them to come back. That better protects them from temperature spikes and exposes them to more nutrients and other beneficial elements in the soil, van den Berg-Ohms said.

Heath recommends planting at a depth four times that of the bulb. Ground pressure is higher at this depth, which keeps the bulbs from breaking apart, she said.

If the fall has been dry, water the plants immediately after planting to get the roots going, she said.

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take good care of her

Tulips don’t need fertilizer once they’re planted, van den Berg-Ohms said. In the light bulb they have already stored what they need.

After the first year, however, fertilizing can improve their vitality, she said. She recommends sprinkling an organic fertilizer three times a year: in the fall, in early spring when the first sprouts appear, and later in the spring when the flowers are dying. Choose a fertilizer that has more phosphorus than nitrogen or potassium, she said.

Or forget the fertilizer and just apply compost. That’s Heath’s preference.

Be careful not to let the onions get too much moisture during the summer when they are dormant. Schipper said excessive moisture is often the problem when planting water-loving annuals in the same spot after the tulips have finished flowering. When gardeners water annuals during the summer, they soak the tulip bulbs and can cause them to rot.

Van den Berg-Ohms also advised against pruning the larger types of tulips to bring them indoors. Removing their stems depletes their energy storage capacity, she said. Instead, wait until the buds finish blooming and begin to die back, then snip off the flower heads about 1 inch (2.5 cm) below their base so the plant doesn’t put its energy into seed production.

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The smaller variety tulips do not need to be dead. In fact, Heath said leaving the flower heads in allows the seeds to fall off and potentially produce more plants.

(You shouldn’t do this with the larger tulips, as it takes years to flower from a seed. It’s better to conserve the energy of the existing plant than to try to grow new ones.)

Allow foliage to die off before removing, which can take up to eight weeks. It’s not particularly attractive at this point, but don’t braid it to keep it looking neater, the experts said. You should expose as much foliage to the sun as possible so the plants can use photosynthesis to recharge the bulbs.

Trouble with deer and voles? Heath recommends Plantskydd, a dried blood repellent.

Hoping for the best

In the end, nature has the final say on whether your tulips will come back.

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A hot spell in spring can shorten the growing season by causing the flower bud to open before the plant reaches its full height, Schipper and van den Berg-Ohms said. This reduces the plant mass left over to produce next year’s food through photosynthesis.

And some locations simply have more favorable conditions than others. Tulips might return to one part of your garden year after year but not another, Schipper said. He keeps getting calls from people wanting to plant tulips that bloomed in their grandmothers’ gardens every year, but it’s likely the microclimate was to blame, not the tulip species.

For the larger tulips, flowering is best in the first year, he said. The following years will never be as striking, but “it’s still respectable,” he said.

For some gardeners, that’s good enough.

(c) 2014 Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

Visit the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) at http://www.ohio.com

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Distributed by MCT Information Services

To dig up tulip bulbs or not

We planted our first tulip bulbs last year and now we are confused. A neighbor digs up theirs when they bloom in the spring, while another leaves his in the ground. Who is right?

Many of the hybrid tulips are bred for beautiful floral display, but not for longevity in the garden. Some gardeners and landscape professionals plant them as annuals, replacing them annually or every two years to ensure the maximum spring show. In the past, botanical gardeners and estate gardeners would dig up bulbs in spring so they could be replaced with showy annuals. These bulbs were stored in a root cellar or other cool, dark place during the summer. They would replant the stored bulbs in the fall. Most of us don’t have these ideal storage conditions, nor do we have the time to get excited. Nordic gardeners can leave their bulbs in the ground all year round. Southern gardeners may need to purchase pre-chilled bulbs if their winter temperatures don’t provide the chill many bulbs need to bloom. Start planting your bulbs in the fall when night time temperatures are between 40 and 50 degrees. In the North and Midwest this is usually October. You can plant until the ground freezes, although onions prefer a rooting period of several weeks. Bulb planting season typically runs from November to mid-December in the South and West, and mid-December in South Florida and other warm regions.

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Whether a gardener accidentally finds forgotten bulbs in a garage or shed, gets some bulbs from a friend, or buys an outdated pack of bulbs, the question often asked is whether the bulbs are too old to plant. I did some research on lightbulbs and found some good information that will hopefully help with any lightbulb situation.

So, can old onions be planted? Yes, if the bulb is still firm and turgid, it can most likely be planted successfully. However, if the bulb smells bad due to rot, is mushy or mushy, or is dry and shriveled, the bulb should not be planted and may be discarded.

You may find that some of your lightbulbs are still good and others are bad. Let’s read on to learn more about flower bulbs in general, how to inspect them in more detail, and how to store them to ensure they remain in good condition for planting.

Are my lightbulbs still good?

First, let’s briefly understand the definition of a lightbulb. Unlike seeds, onions are living plants. It’s technically a short stem with leaves that provide it with the energy it needs during hibernation (winter).

Some of the most well-known types of bulbs are lilies, tulips, amaryllis, daffodils, and garlic.

As we’ve said before, you may have come across some old bulbs and are wondering if they’re good enough to plant. Here are some checks you can do to find out.

Squeeze the lightbulb. If it’s mushy or destroyed by lightly squeezing, the onion is no longer good. On the other hand, if the onion has completely dried out and becomes shriveled and brittle when pressed, then it is most likely no longer good.

If it’s mushy or destroyed by lightly squeezing, the onion is no longer good. On the other hand, if the onion has completely dried out and becomes shriveled and brittle when pressed, then it is most likely no longer good. Check the bulb for mold. If the lightbulb has mold, it should be thrown away.

If the lightbulb has mold, it should be thrown away. Smell the lightbulb. If it smells rotten or foul in any way, it probably shouldn’t be planted.

If it smells rotten or foul in any way, it probably shouldn’t be planted. Check if they swim! Fill a bucket with water and toss the onion in the bucket. If it floats, that’s probably an indication that the bulb is rotting inside and is lighter than a good, healthy bulb. I highly recommend throwing away any floating lightbulbs.

Fill a bucket with water and toss the onion in the bucket. If it floats, that’s probably an indication that the bulb is rotting inside and is lighter than a good, healthy bulb. I highly recommend throwing away any floating lightbulbs. Cut open the lightbulb. I would recommend only doing this with a large collection of bulbs that have all been stored together where one can be spared from slicing and dissection. Cut it in half, the long way. If the stem/bud in the middle looks brown and dried up, the bulb is no longer good. This may indicate that the entire collection of bulbs is likely to be in the same condition.

Now that you know several ways to check if onions are still good, you might be wondering how to store your onions properly in the future to keep them healthy during the rest period. Let’s read on to find out!

How to store onions before planting

There are several reasons why onions need to be stored before planting. Perhaps they were obtained from a friend, bought from the store in the middle of winter, or had to be dug up and rescued because they weren’t hardy enough to survive extremely cold winters.

In general, flower bulbs should always be stored in a cool and dark place. They should not be placed in an area that gets all the sunlight. Do not place them on a refrigerator or other device that could heat them up. An optimal location is a garage or basement that stays above freezing but not too warm. Lightbulbs should stay at a temperature of about forty degrees Fahrenheit. Keep in mind that flower bulbs would naturally just stay in the ground without freezing and would survive just fine, so they need this natural cooling period to flower in spring.

As for containers for storing onions, I would suggest storing them in a cardboard box and layering them with newspaper between each layer. This helps them stay dry and dark and keeps their temperature from fluctuating too much. Bonus tip: Any kind of root veg like potatoes, onions, carrots, and beets make great winter storage too!

Should I plant flower bulbs in spring or autumn?

The two main categories of flower bulbs are spring flower bulbs and summer flower bulbs.

Spring bloomers should be planted in fall and are considered hardy in most zones. This means they can survive a deep freeze. However, if you can get your hands on some bulbs after the ground is already frozen, you can still plant them if you want to do a little work to open up that frozen ground. The other option is to try storing them for the winter and planting them in the spring. However, the success rate in this situation may be lower as they may not bloom as desired in the first year.

Some common spring bloomers are:

tulip

daffodil

Dutch iris

crocus

Scilla

Summer bloomers are generally not as hardy as spring bloomers. Depending on the variety, summer bloomers should be planted in spring. Also, these bulbs may not survive a hard freeze, so it’s generally recommended to dig up these bulbs in the fall, store for the winter, and replant in the spring.

Some common summer flowering bulbs are:

begonias

lilies

dahlias

freesia

shamrock

We’ve mainly talked about flowering onions, but remember we also mentioned garlic. Garlic is generally recommended to be planted in the fall when more mature garlic bulbs are desired by summer. Garlic needs time in the fall and winter to develop its roots before working on its bulb development in the spring. If garlic is planted in the spring, the fully developed bulbs may not come at the desired time, but the growth can still be used in cooking. The green leaves can be used like chives and the flowers of the plant can be used as garlic leaves in cooking.

On the Our Favorite Products page you will find everything you need to make your garden a success!

flowers appear on earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of the doves is heard in our country. Song of Songs 2:12

related questions

How long do lightbulbs last? When stored properly, in a cool, dark place, onions can last up to 12 months.

Should you soak onions before planting? Yes, tunicate onions (those that have a paper-like shell) can be soaked in warm water for up to 12 hours. This can help the bulb absorb water and start the root development process faster once planted in the ground.

Can I plant onions in pots? Yes, you can plant bulbs in most containers with a good potting soil. The bulbs should be planted four to seven inches deep, depending on the variety. If these are spring flowering bulbs that will be planted in the fall, I recommend placing the pot or container in a garage or basement. Although these bulbs are hardy, the soil is better insulated than a pot or container, so a bulb in a pot would freeze before a bulb in the ground. A bulb cannot survive outside in a container as well as it can in the ground.

How deep do you plant onions? In general, most bulbs should be planted four to seven inches deep. A good rule is to plant the bulb two to three times the depth of the bulb’s length.

The start of a new year often feels like starting fresh for all of us, by adopting better habits, getting rid of old ones and – most commonly – changing our look. While others hit the squats and head to the salon for a pixie cut, why not slowly and steadily start off with a cozy winter manicure in a color that feels new to you? It just takes a little courage to step out of your usual OPI Lincoln Park After Dark or Essie Bordeaux, which is all it takes to kick off 2022 with imaginative feet. From new wintery reinterpretations of classic dark nail colors to unique pops of color that make the opposite of boring appear, these are the best nail colors to try this January and check off well into spring.

Tulips are synonymous with the spring season, and as one of the easiest flowers to care for, these cheerful blooms come in just about every color imaginable. In a garden, tulip bulbs provide fabulous color in borders and containers, and as a cut flower, nothing makes a room stand out quite like tulips in a vase.

The color of a tulip flower is almost as diverse as the shape it produces. Among these famous Dutch flowers you will find tulips with one or two rows of petals, those with eye-catching fringes, parrot tulips with jagged petals or even lily-flowered tulips, peony tulips and French tulips. The possibilities are endless!

Cut flower tulips

Do you have tulips in a vase right now? When it comes to cut flower tulips, keeping yours looking pretty and perky is easier than you think. Cut flower tulips typically last five to 12 days, but they are heavy drinkers, so it’s important to top up the vase with water regularly. Head Florist at , Caroline, details how to make your tulips last longer and offers flower care solutions to common problems.

How to avoid drooping tulips

Follow these simple steps…

1. Cut your tulips

Trimming tulips by 3-5 cm allows the water inside to hydrate them. Always cut at an angle to have as much surface area as possible for drinking.

2. Soak them in water as soon as possible

Tulips, like all flowers, use water to support their stems. Put them in water as soon as possible to allow them to rehydrate and bloom.

3. Find your dream home

Keep your tulips away from direct sunlight and radiators (they will dry out your stems) and fruit (it releases gases that will make them fade).

4. Change their water

Tulips don’t like drinking dirty water, so change your vase every few days, trimming your stems by 1cm each time.

Why are my tulips limp?

Don’t worry, they’re not dead. Tulips use water to support their stems so they’re just thirsty after their journey to you. Help yours perk up by trimming them, dunking them in water, then leaving them overnight. They won’t look limp in the morning.

Why are my tulips so much shorter than my other stems?

They are naturally much shorter than other stems but will continue to grow in your vase. Data Scientist Dave conducted a tulip experiment to prove this. He measured some tulips the day they arrived and they averaged 31cm. Then he put them in fresh water with flower food and waited a few days. On the fifth day he took them out of the water and measured them one by one. On average they had grown a whopping 17cm!

Andrew Coulter/EyemEm Getty Images

Why do tulips keep growing in water?

Tulips really react to sunlight and that’s why they move. They turn to the light sources around them, hoping to be seen by pollinators. You can also see them opening on sunny days and closing at night.

Why don’t my tulips stay straight?

As they continue to grow in their vase, you’ll find them moving playfully in the water. It’s part of their charm and nothing to worry about!

MarcelTB Getty Images Rolfo Brenner / EyeEm Getty Images

But I want my tulip to be straight – what can I do?

If you want your tulips to stand up straight for a dinner party or special occasion, we recommend removing them from their vase, wrapping them tightly in newspaper into a cone shape, submerging them in water again and leaving them in a dark place overnight space to keep . When you unwrap them in the morning they are perfect! Then remember to rotate your vase throughout to prevent them from growing in one direction towards the light.

We also recommend placing your tulips in a tall vase to help them stand upright.

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A friend of mine recently told me that when she bought her house 5 years ago, her garden had a lot of crocuses in bloom. Since then, more crocuses have bloomed every spring. The tulips she planted bloomed for the first two years, but only produced leaves and two small flowers the next year.

Why do some bulbs bloom every year while others are short-lived?

Although tulips are considered perennials, many gardeners, including myself, find that some tulip bulbs are short-lived, often only blooming for a few years. Bulbs that are “bred in” for a new color, size, and larger buds tend to do this. Breeders have largely left Botanical or Species tulips, which are smaller than hybrid varieties, alone. Darwin Hybrids, Imperial Tulips and Kaufmanniana Tulips make an appearance year after year.

Some other bulb species that can come back and multiply year after year are crocus, grape hyacinth, snowdrop and squill (Scilla). Other bulbs like daffodils will multiply and form dense clumps if you dig them up and divide the bulbs after flowering. Replant these bulbs immediately or store them until fall.

To ensure your bulbs stay healthy and long-lived, plant them in a sunny spot with well-drained soil. If the soil gets too wet, the bulbs will rot. If you need to improve drainage, add compost, peat moss, or coir (a product made from coconut shells that acts like peat moss) to the soil.

How to grow tulips

Tulips are a vibrant, happy flower that brings a smile to everyone’s face and is a symbol of spring. They come in a variety of colors, with some varieties even being multicolored. Tulips can make for a casual bouquet on your kitchen counter or an elegant, more formal arrangement for a special occasion. These flowers can be anywhere from 4 to 30 inches tall. Tulips grow upright with a single flower at the end of a sturdy stem.

When to plant tulips

It is important to plant tulips at the right time to ensure healthy growth. For USDA hardiness zones seven and below, tulip bulbs should be planted in the fall before frost arrives. For zones eight and higher, plant bulbs in late December or January to see spring blooms. Note that bulbs in this case should be refrigerated to 40 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 weeks before planting.

How to plant tulips in your garden

Tulips are usually planted about 6 inches deep and about 3 to 6 inches apart. Plant tulips 20 cm deep in areas with severe frost. This also prevents them from being eaten by animals. Always water onions after planting, and keep watering in hot, dry climates. In climates where it rains, rain alone should be sufficient as tulips do not tolerate standing in excess water well and can rot in these conditions. Plan to fertilize tulip bulbs with a 4-4-2 organic bulb fertilizer in the fall after planting and again in early spring when the sprouts begin to grow. To isolate and maintain balanced soil moisture, cover your flower bulb bed with a few inches of mulch.

Allow stems and leaves to naturally die back and turn yellow or brown before removing. If you remove leaves while they are still green, the bulb will not retain enough nutrients to flower the following year.

As for pests and diseases, give the tulips plenty of room for air to circulate around the plants to reduce fungal growth. If your planting site is contaminated, do not plant there for at least three years. Inspect bulbs for signs of rot before purchasing and remove affected plants immediately. Tulips are susceptible to aphids, onion mites, thrips, rodents and deer. Cover plants with chicken wire to prevent them from being eaten and keep an eye on pests by quickly clearing them out to recover the remaining plants.

Where to plant tulips

In northern areas, tulips grow best in full sun. However, plant in partial shade in southern areas to avoid overheating. Ideally, plant tulip bulbs in an area with well-drained soil with a pH between six and seven. If the soil in your area is mostly sand or clay, add compost. Make sure you have enough space to plant the bulbs about 3 to 6 inches apart.

It’s February, so depending on where you live, winter can be freezing cold or mildly cool with a nice breeze. Right now you may only be thinking about a beautiful spring garden – but is it the right time to start planting? Again, it depends on what part of the country you live in, but there are workarounds if you have a game!

If you live where winters are fairly mild and the soil is still fairly workable, then go ahead and plant straight into the ground. On the other hand, if you live in a very cold and wet climate or the ground is frozen, you can plant in containers and pots. These can be kept indoors with the possible use of grow lights simulating the sun.

A quick note on grow lights: remember to pay attention to the intensity of the light and the type of plants you plan to grow as each plant is different and will require a different level of intensity.

So what should you plant for a beautiful garden in February? Here are a few suggestions:

Lilies: These are beautiful flowers! No garden would be complete without the elegant lily. True lilies grow from bulbs, not seeds. They need six to eight hours of direct sunlight every day. Lilies planted in the shade tend to lean towards the sunlight and often fall over. They must be fed a liquid fertilizer high in potassium. Other types of lilies are calla lilies and canna lilies, which are particularly beautiful. Caution: Lilies are poisonous to cats but harmless to dogs. So please be careful not to put your cat at risk by planting lilies – maybe choose one of our other recommendations. Petunias: There are two groups of petunias, the Grandiflora, which has large flowers, and the Multiflora, which has smaller flowers and really shines as a groundcover in your garden. Petunias are usually treated as annuals even though they are perennials. If you live in an area where your winters are mild, they will sometimes flower in winter. It is nature’s surprise. You can plant them in pots indoors in February if you live in colder zones. These flowers are safe for dogs and cats. Tulips: They thrive in colder climates, but with the magic of indoor spaces, you’ll need to mimic a winter chill if you decide to plant them in February. It is best to place the tulip bulbs in a paper bag in the vegetable drawer before planting. FYI – be careful not to store onions next to your fruits and vegetables as gases from your produce can kill and destroy them. Then you can use plant pots and regular potting soil and cover with plastic to keep the soil from drying out. Then put the plant back in your fridge. Once it begins to sprout, cover, water often, and let sit in the fridge (or another cool spot, or in an unheated basement) for three months before moving outside or to a sunny window . Tulips are one of the more difficult bulbs to grow in milder climates, but they are gorgeous once you have them. 4. Daisies: The gerbera daisies are bright and love the warm climate. They are also the perfect plant to start growing indoors in these beautiful containers. These are best started from seed; They should be moist, but never stand in water. The flowers are available in red, yellow, white and pink. They also look beautiful indoors. 5. Lucky Bamboo Plant: This is a great beginner plant and is beautiful in its simplicity. You cannot deny the wonderful symbolism it carries. Watch these informative videos on growing bamboo from seed (part 1 and part 2). Plant it in February for a blooming rest of the year!

*Note: Since many of our readers live in different parts of the country where weather conditions vary, we have focused on providing ways to mimic the weather required so that no matter where you live, you can plant in February and still get your Beauty can have Spring/Summer garden.

I would imagine there was a mad rush at Observer Towers with the new format, the new year, the new vibe of energy and hope, but those things pretty much slipped past me here in the Sticks. But alas, things stir in the undergrowth in exactly the same format that they’ve tediously persisted in for the last millennium or so. The snowdrops are still green orbs piercing the frozen ground, but it won’t be long before they bloom, with aconite close behind them. Over the next three weeks I will be focusing on growing flower bulbs for each season and now is a good time to start as spring bulbs seem like a possibility rather than a promise.

Flower bulbs are full of flowers. This is their magic, especially in spring when flowers are scarce. In fact, it is well into June before the flowers begin to dominate the foliage, allowing a bulb, however small, to deliver pure colour, be it the blue of scillas, the gold of daffodils or all rich palette of tulips. Planting flower bulbs is all about setting a spark for color and anyone can place this blast where they want it and with a little experience, research and choice you can pretty much time it when you too want it.

Let’s start at the beginning. “Bulb” is a general word for plants that store the next season’s flowers and the nutrients needed to grow them in a self-contained capsule that can survive until the next growing season without nutrients or roots. The true bulbs — like tulips, alliums, iris reticulata I unguicularis, and daffodils — are essentially a very reduced stem composed of concentric layers of fleshy scales with a dry, protective outer layer. Each scale is either the base of a leaf or the thick-scaly leaves that never appear above ground. The outer layer of paper is what’s left of last year’s scales. Onions tend to be smooth and, uh, pear-like. However, some bulbs, such as lilies and mother-of-pearl flowers, do not have a protective skin and the scales are separated. There are three different forms of onions. In the most common ones – like tulips or alliums – the bulb shrivels and dies after flowering and is renewed by buds that form at the base of the scales at the point where they join the baseplate. Daffodils, on the other hand, continue year after year, producing offsets rather than fully renewing themselves. Because of this, you will always get more vigorous daffodils, but tulips tend to grow reluctantly and with a noticeable loss of vigour, as it takes two or three years for most tulip bulbs to flower. The last type of bulb, like Hippeastrum (Amaryllis), has embryonic bulbs for three years in each “parent” bulb – so it’s truly perennial.

Then there are tubers, like the iris family – which includes irises, gladioli, crocuses, crocosmia, freesia and dierama – which form anew each year on top of the old one and look like an unwrapped packet of fruit pastilles, tubers are all like above and below clearly flattened. They’re also wrapped in a dry, protective layer of old leaves. They form tubers – mini-tubers – as compensation during the growing season; These can be separated and planted out without damaging the mother bulb and are a very good way to propagate the plant. Tubers like Erythronia develop as an offset to allow the colony to spread as the parent grows larger each year.

Tubers differ from bulbs and tubers in that they are not the base of the stem, but rather the swollen roots that serve to store food – unlike most roots, which are merely a medium to carry food to the plant. The old bulbs will die off after flowering and new ones will form during the growing season, which is why you should never dig up or cut back a bulbous plant like a dahlia until all growth for the year is complete. Tubers are found in some orchids, dahlias, anemones, corydalis and cyclamen species, and of course in the potato.

Finally there are rhizomes, which are swollen underground stems, usually horizontal, always very flat (sometimes on the earth’s surface). The best known examples are irises, anemone nemorosa and lily of the valley as well as ginger and couch grass.

In an ideal world, the best time to plant flower bulbs is when they are dormant between gathering energy for the next year and beginning to grow. But ideal times tend to either catch us off guard or be surrounded by complacency. I’ve been doing this for well over 30 years and haven’t yet mastered ideal timing. The truth is, it’s not too late to plant spring onions – but go ahead. Tulips do very well with a January planting, but crocuses and daffodils are likely to do better in their second season than in the first if planted later than November. Snowdrops and aconite are much better planted “in the open” by lifting and dividing existing plants right after flowering – which in most cases will be early March. If you plant them as dry bulbs, the failure rate can be horrendous.

The general rule for planting all bulbs is to go deeper rather than the obvious. Two or three times the depth of the bulb itself is the usual guideline, although that’s too much measuring for me. The guiding rule is that you do less damage if you’re too deep than if you’re too shallow. However, don’t agonize over it. Plants are always tougher than you think.

The other general rule is that flower bulbs need good drainage and this is vital for bulbs like tulips, alliums and iris reticulata. The best way to ensure this is to mix in copious amounts of sand (50:50 grit to potting soil is not too gritty) in the general area or container in which they are to be planted, or a good dollop of sand in each planting hole give . Tedious, but worth it. Some spring bulbs like snowdrops, fritillary butterflies, eranthis and, in my own garden, muscari seem to thrive in fairly humid conditions. But all this like a humus-rich, fairly permeable soil.

All onions look great in a container, especially in terracotta pots. These can be placed in the sun or in the shade as required and also ensure proper drainage. Pack smaller bulbs tightly and try to find shallow alpine pans that are the perfect container for crocuses, snowdrops, fritillaries, irises, muscari and other small bulbs. Keep in mind that most need a summer bake so make sure they get some sunshine when they dormant.

Ideal ground conditions

light bulbs

Narcissus well drained

Fritillaria meleagris moist

Hyacinth well drained

Iris reticulata/unguicularis well drained

Muscari well drained

Snowdrop wet shadow

Tulip well drained

tubers

Corydalis solida any good soil

Erythronium well drained

tubers

Colchicum hungaricum well drained

Crocus well drained

rhizome

Anemone nemorosa well drained

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