Tips for Planting Flower Bulbs
Sandra Dinkins-Wilson
Flower bulbs can produce some amazing flowers throughout the
whole year for little care and effort once planted. This yearly
display can start with the earliest flowering bulbs in the spring
such as snowdrops and crocus and proceed into winter with bulbs
forced indoors to bloom. These you can see available in stores
around Christmas time.
For this article we will discuss flower bulbs as being most of
the group of flowers that grow from enlarged underground masses
that store food over the winter for the plant. In another article
we will address the actual differences among all such "bulbs".
Flower bulbs, if planted in a bed, need a soil that has good
drainage. A sandy loam soil is ideal but bulbs will do well in
just about anything short of cold clay soil, soggy spots and very
rocky ground. Even amongst the rocks you can find pockets to
plant some of the smaller flower bulbs. Adding plenty of organic
matter always helps your soil as we have mentioned in other
articles.
Some expert gardeners suggest a flowerbed where the bulbs will be
planted should be prepared to a depth of two feet. This allows
you to plant even the largest of bulbs to a good depth. But if
the location is a low spot to which all other areas drain, and it
holds water, this will not be a good spot to plant your bulbs
regardless of how well you prepare the soil. Flower bulbs will
readily rot where the soil holds water and is soggy.
Whatever spot you pick be sure it allows your flower bulbs to be
in full sun. As most spring-flowering bulbs come up before the
trees have their leaves, it may not be as great a concern for
them. It is certainly a consideration when planting summer-
flowering bulbs. Keep this in mind when planting near evergreens
and man-made structures.
Some flower gardeners prefer to use bulbs to "naturalize" an
area. To do this, you simply dig a hole big enough and deep
enough for the bulb you are planting. You can also dig a hole big
enough to hold four or five bulbs at a time. Put a little bulb
fertilizer in the hole, place your bulbs in, replace the soil
removed and cap with the sod you removed in making the hole.
And lastly the rule of thumb for planting flower bulbs is three
times as deep as the bulb is big. You may wish to consider
planting some bulbs even deeper. Barbara Damrosch of Theme
Gardens fame prefers to plant her bulbs, especially tulips and
daffodils, deeper at ten inches. She prefers this to keep them
from sprouting in the fall, being worked out of the ground by the
freezing and thawing of it, and also to help protect the bulbs
from being eaten by animals.
© 2005, Sandra Dinkins-Wilson
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