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Sow Today, Smile Tomorrow: A Beginner's Guide to Bulb Gardening
- Painters Greenhouse
- Sep 24, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 16
Bulb Basics:
Q&A with Painters Greenhouse manager, Betsy
Hey Betsy, I hear this is the time to plant bulbs. If you've never done bulbs before, they seem a little intimidating. What reassurance can you offer to newbies?
Bulbs are so easy! You're just sending your future self a little garden present that will pop up just when you need it after the cold winter months. Planting is basic even though you'll find a plethora of online opinions on precise planting methods. Prevailing wisdom, both online and in our experience: bulbs are hard to mess up. Everyone says to make sure the pointy end is facing up, but honestly, even if you don't do that, the flowers figure out very quickly where the sun is and grow in the right direction. Unless they get too wet or a squirrel eats them, you'll have blooms coming up in the spring.
Which are the earliest bloomers?
Snowdrops, Muscari (Grape Hyacinth), Crocus. They're such a happy little surprise when they pop out of the ground. Just all of the sudden, there they are.
Have you taken any home yet?
Well, so far, I've planned on the 'Mount Hood' Narcissus, the 'Dark Eyes' Muscari and the Bluebells because they are all juglone tolerant. I have a lot of Black Walnut to contend with so these are great for my garden. I've had a customer who swears by daffodils as vole repellers, and he simply drops a bulb in any vole hole in his yard. There's equal support and debunking of this idea online, but I'm willing to give it a go this year since I've got voles everywhere.
When are you going to put them in the ground?
The rules generally are to plant bulbs when the average nighttime temperature is between 40° and 50° F. (In most areas, this is usually 6 to 8 weeks before the ground freezes.) But if we're being honest, I might get them in after this last round of heat or--even more likely--late October into November. I've planted bulbs as late as Thanksgiving and into December when the temps were already pretty low and still had a great result in the spring. All of my ninebarks and viburnums that I've purchased should go in the ground first! The bulbs will be perfectly content in their bags inside the house for a couple more weeks which will let the soil temps cool a bit as well.
What's the best method you've heard of to arrange the narcissus?
I'll steal this story from another crew member who knows someone who would toss the bulbs over her shoulder and plant them wherever they landed. I love this method because it will create a great naturalized look without overthinking it.
How about for tulips?
Tulips have a very cultivated look about them anyway, so they look fantastic in any thoughtful pattern or design. They look great in a group, in a line, tall ones at the back, short ones at the front, mixing up the heights in a deliberate way . . . there are no rules other than what looks good to the beholder! We have a great variety of colors so you can really get creative and artistic with your presentations. (Our team member Cindy planted a gorgeous mix of a butter yellow and a deep maroon/black last year - the contrast was stunning!)
Are there any challenges for these bulbs?
The challenge you see for tulips is competition with deer, squirrels and voles. If you don't have a vole problem, you can simply put down a stretch of chicken wire over the bulbs just under the soil surface so deer and squirrels can't get to them. If you do have voles, you can line the holes with sharper rocks or even make a little chicken wire cage around your bulb area. The tulips won't be deterred by either solution, but the voles probably will.
The most significant challenge for any of the bulbs we have this year will be if the conditions got too wet for them. Past that, the narcissus in particular really have no problems and should thrive in sun or even part shade.
Are any of these bulbs particularly special to you?
Have you ever seen Bluebells en masse in a woodland setting? They are drive-off-the-road-because-you-can't-stop-looking-at-them stunning! They make the most beautiful carpet of these dainty nodding blue flowers. They'll bloom for about three weeks and go dormant in the summer, but they're so worth the minimal planting effort. They spread well too, so you can get a lot out of one planting.
Overall, bulbs are definitely worth a try if you've never done them before, and in some instances, you'll get more plants for less money this way. At Painters this fall, we also have alliums, irises, and fritillaries that will do great when planted now and given time to root over the winter. You have plenty of time to plant them, but not much time to buy them from us since we're only open for 4 more weeks and customers have already taken note! Below is a list of what we have, but keep in mind they're going fast.
