A pre-challenge post for bulbs:Please bear with me as I learn how to plant bulbs in the fall for a spring bloom. I have never paid much attention to the process but I decided if I was going to lead a fall bulb challenge, I needed to know the proper timing for planting. I thought we could all start thinking about bulbs and then one of the upcoming challenges would be to actually plant the bulbs or to schedule when you will plant your bulbs.
After determining your hardiness zone, you can use this chart to determine when to plant the bulbs in the ground. Burpee Plants and Shipping Schedule Your planting time will depend on your hardiness zone. It looks like the northern part of the country will plant earlier than the warmer climates. My zone is 8 so my planting schedule would be after October 13th sometime.
Here is a reference on how to plant flowering bulbs.
Burpee: How to Plant and Grow Your Flowering Bulbs
I will talk more about this in an upcoming post but I wanted to share the general idea in the first part of this series.
According to the website, tulips are a good choice for nearly everyone and rodents do not like to eat the bulbs. This is an important fact to know in my area since it is home to lots of gophers, moles, and voles.
I think I am ready to pick my bulbs and send off my order so I will be ready when the time comes to put the bulbs into the ground. I will post back when I have received my bulbs and I am ready to stick them in the garden. It says on the ordering page at Burpee that the bulbs will be shipped at the appropriate time for fall planting. It should be interesting to see when they ship them.
My order:
Double Daffodils Mix
Dutch Iris Mix
Allium Gladiator
and one last splurge to satisfy my love of purple
Tulip Purple Passion
I have purchased from these two companies before and have been satisfied with the results.
Burpee
Brecks
In the meantime, I would love to hear if any of you are going to join me in a fall planting for a spring bloom. Leave me a comment and let me know if you are going to participate and what you are going to plant. I am dreaming of the spring blossoms already. Also, if you have a favorite online bulb source that you would like to share, please email me and I will add it to the post. harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Note:
Claude Monet, Tulip Fields in Holland
