Taking Care of Your Bulbs

Taking Care of Your Bulbs

In order to properly care and maintain the bulbs that you want to plant in your garden, you need to keep track of exactly what you have in stock. Many bulbs are extremely tolerant and can be kept well enough alone if accidentally ignored for several months. On the other hand, there are other bulbs that must be replanted as early as possible to prevent them from drying out. The key to all this is of course knowing how to identify your bulbs in stock.

One trick that most gardeners use is to take notice of the type of packing material the bulbs are in. Doing so will provide the best clue. For example, if you find bulbs that were sold to you loose and dry, then it is typically safe to store them up to four or five weeks until you can get around to planting them. Bulbs that are packed in extremely moist peat moss should be planted in the ground as soon as possible.

Other Tips…

Hold off on moving or dividing an evergreen bulb until it hits the non-flowering stage. Do not transplant your other bulbs until they are dormant and the leaves have turned brown. Dig up the entire clump and carefully pull the bulbs apart. Then replant each one separately. By repeating this process every couple of years, you can enjoy the beauty of hundreds of new plants that stemmed from only a dozen or so bulbs that you originally started with.

Another tip is to always snip off the bloom as soon as it has dried out. This will prevent the bulb from wasting its energy and nutrients by trying to turn the dead blossom into seeds. Now instead of wasting its energy, the bulb will have more energy to work on creating its new bloom.

And lastly, it can be a bit of a chore to keep your bulbs maintained so that you can enjoy them for years to come. For example, many tulips are incredibly intolerant of soil that is very wet, which is especially true when in dormancy. Therefore, in areas that has high rainfall levels during the summertime, you have to dig up your tulips once the leaves have turned brown and then store them in a dry location to prevent them from rotting.