Greenscape Gardens Green Blog

COLD WEATHER AND EMERGING BULBS

This has been a perennial question asked by gardeners in the St. Louis area for the past two weeks. We have been fielding several calls a day via the phone and about one call a day on our website "Ask the Pro".

The canned answer is simply.......NOTHING. The warm weather that we experienced in February has warmed up the soil considerably and that has prompted the emergence of the bulbs. The bulbs are relatively cold hardy and the cold will not kill the plant but may injure the flowers.

The next question is what can I do?.......BASICALLY NOTHING. The bulbs should have been planted DEEPER originally. The rule of thumb is to plant 3x deeper than the vertical height of the bulb. Tulips should be planted at least six inches deep. But because of hard soil they normally get planted three inches deep. The top layer of soil warms up and stimulates the bulbs emergence. The deeper depth may also eliminate any potential damage from moles and even squirrels digging them up.

Okay, I messed up, what do I do NOW?......ONCE AGAIN NOTHING. But if you feel guilty about planting shallow, you can apply mulch around the base of the plant.

WHEN YOU PLANT SPRING BULBS THIS COMING FALL.......REMEMBER TO PLANT THEM DEEPER---THREE TIMES THEIR VERTICAL HEIGHT.

For additional information concerning daffodils.