When to plant bulbs

[CarolPNW]

Hello all,

I am in WA state and we’ve been having a snowy cold winter
I’m itching to plant my bulbs, I’m wondering if I should just go
ahead and plant them. Here is what I have so far

 

[flowerbug]

i'm not sure of what their rot tolerance is. i'm used to planting things in the fall not the spring so i would have to pass this baton to @digitS' and the other spring bulb planters... good luck! love flowers.

 

[thistlebloom]

I would plant them in containers first. If the bags have been in a warm house for awhile they will start sprouting and need to get into soil and light.

You could harden them off in the containers when we see more springlike conditions, then transplant when the soil is thawed and the nights are above freezing.

 

[digitS']

I very nearly started a thread on throwing away a banana peel, yesterday!

The garden soil is frozen and under about 18" of snow. There is more snow than that piled in front of my stealth compost bins, here at home. I now have 5, 5-gallon buckets filled with frozen masses of kitchen peelings with no more available compost buckets and no access to anywhere to put them! I cannot even dig a hole in the garden. @CarolPNW , you have a wonderful resource right there in your hometown.

https://puyallup.wsu.edu

I used to find it frustrating that WSU gardening information was 99% geared to the westside of the state and Puyallup cooperative extension. More recently, the agency has come a long way toward realizing that not all of the state's gardeners are in the Puget Sound area and only a few feet above sea level! Still, that fine organization is right at hand as an information source for you.

Steve

 

[CarolPNW]

@digitS' we have finally thawed out from the snow but it’s still a bit cold. Thanks everyone for all the advise and tips.. Hoping that Spring will be a thing soon

 

[thistlebloom]

I just looked up Puyallup, I guess you don't actually get frozen ground. Those bulbs and plants may be ok just planted out now, but I still think I'd advise potting them up and waiting. Your lilac is already leafed out, I wouldn't risk it.

 

[ducks4you]

What fun!! Bulbs will grow at Least leaves if the bulb isn't dried out AND they will multiply. If you cover them really well even the bulbs that don't like the cold where you live have a fighting chance of coming back next year. Bulbs double every year and you can dig them up, pull them apart and replant somewhere else in the future. I would wait to plant your bulbs until after you can plant cold tolerant seeds directly. My experience is that you should purchase a small trowel with measurements on it to dig your holes, but you should work the soil first, so that your bulbs have nice loose soil to grow. You should try to plant deep enough, BUT your bulbs will dig lower if they need it and I have seen this happen many times!
I was cleaning up some pots in January and found that I had about 1/2 a dozen crocus bulbs that were still "wick" so I planted them in a pot and gave them to my DD to put on her office windowsill. They are 4 inches tall now and should be flowering in the next week, which will be about 4 weeks ahead of any outside THIS year!!
If you don't already own them here is a nice beginner's set of hand gardening tools:
https://www.amazon.com/Anpress-Gard...XN/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid={creative}&hvpos={adposition}&hvnetw=o&hvrand={random}&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl={devicemodel}&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583589101651646&psc=1
I have bought this set. There are aluminum so they won't rust, but they are heavy and not likely to bend unless you hit a piece of metal and Really force it. I been given cheap trowels in the past that bent the first time I tried to use them.
Notice that the transplanter trowel has measurements to help you to plant bulbs and other small plants. You can find this set at WM, btw.

 

[flowerbug]

a usual reasonable metric for me for fall bulb planting is three times the size of the bulb deep. as of yet i only vary from this for planting green garlic (deeper by several inches) because i want more of the white blanched stem to harvest. however, for spring planted bulbs i have zip experience so perhaps there are some spring bulbs where that isn't a good enough metric?

 

[CarolPNW]

Thanks all, the soil in my backyard is mixed with a lot of sand that the previous owners put in when they planted 250 gladiolus bulbs, I enjoyed those glads for many years.. I had a nice day so I went ahead and planted them, I have other bulbs coming up from last year so I thought they’d be ok, Butttt it got cold again and the ground has been freezing here with this crazy cold and snowy winter. So we’ll see, I’m pretty sure the lilac froze yikes lol
I’m in Graham btw just down the road from Puyallup but Puyallup is more recognized so I just used that, and it’s always fun for others to try to pronounce NOT lol

I haven’t planted the glad bulbs I bought though

 

[catjac1975]

Hello all,

I am in WA state and we’ve been having a snowy cold winter
I’m itching to plant my bulbs, I’m wondering if I should just go
ahead and plant them. Here is what I have so far

Hello all,

I am in WA state and we’ve been having a snowy cold winter
I’m itching to plant my bulbs, I’m wondering if I should just go
ahead and plant them. Here is what I have so far

If you can dig the soil you can plant. Bulbs need a cool start.