Planting Bulbs in the Fall

Imagine the snow melting with temperatures beginning to stay above freezing causing puddles to form along the streets and sidewalks. As you pay close attention to garden areas, you start to see little green spikes poking out of the earth as mother nature awakens in April, from a peaceful winter's sleep. All winter long, those tiny spikes were gathering their energy just to give you a fancy show again. Little do you realize, the work being put forth for this year's show began a year ago.

A flower has one sole purpose, to produce its beautiful flower. Once the flower is produced, it strives to retrieve all the essential nutrition it can from its foliage to produce a baby bulb and prepare to flower again the following season.  So how can a person ensure the odds are in their favor for a beautiful display?  You have to know what it needs and when it needs it.  Truth be told, most bulbs just want to be left alone.

It all begins in the initial planting.  You want soil to be neutral but filled with good compost.  Dig your holes only as deep as the package says to.  Plant them and follow with water.  Then water them some more.  And some more.  Keep watering until the ground is frozen with the bulbs getting locked in a nice ice pocket in the ground.  I have found planting bulbs in late October and early November with saturating the ground until it freezes works wonderful.