Re: When to plant fall bulbs?
- To: perennials@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: When to plant fall bulbs?
- From: "* L* <n*@hotmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 20:50:52 CDT
Bill Lee said:
>Sounds ridiculous to me. When are they supposed to start growing their
roots?
>Here in Zone 6A Cincinnati we plant in October (or earlier in a pinch)
and
>I'm sure the soil temperature is well above 40F. But then we have
freezing
>winters to look forward to as early as November. Any Texans online to
support
>or refute?
>
----------------------------------------
I'm not from Texas, but close enough...have to put my $.02 in.
I've been told I should plant bulbs here any time between when nighttime
temperatures are consistently in the 40's (usually sometime in October)
until the ground freezes (anytime from January to never).
The hard part is giving them enough cold weather. Some folks
refrigerate their bulbs and set them out in December or January.
Keep in mind, Bill, that in this region autumn is usually quite wet and
warm, perfect for rotting bulbs. And when the ground does freeze, it's
only in the top couple of inches. So there's really no problem with
getting them out early enough to grow roots.
And as far as "how do the bulbs survive that are already in the ground",
most of them don't. Daffodils, crocus and "wood hyacinths" are the only
spring bulbs that have successfully naturalized for me.
Everything else is pretty much a one-time shot.
But I don't have to dig up my canna's!
Nancy Lowe
Arkansas, zone 7
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