I had heard from my friend Mavis that Lowe’s could possibly have spring flower bulbs 75% off, even though they are marked only 50% off! Wahooooo! I stopped into my local Lacey, Washington Lowe’s and found a whole wall of bulbs for 75% off, I had to contain myself. . . what a deal!
So I ended up buying daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and irises. But I need to research ask you. . .
- When is it too late to plant bulbs in the Northwest? Did I miss the sweet spot? I really wanted to wrap some up and give them as teacher gifts with a card about how they help my kids grow or something cheesy like that, but how late can I give these, so they can still plant them and have them bloom in the spring?
- Can I plant them in pots now and let them sit over the winter? Do you keep them in the garage or outside? I’d love to give them as gifts in the spring.
- How many bulbs do you plant in one small 12 inch pot?
- Do you have any techniques for planting bulbs?
- How do you know which way to put them in the ground – for example, which way is up?
- My sister lives in Alaska and there is already snow on the ground, I’d love to send her some bulbs but what do you do when the ground is frozen?
I’m ignorant when it comes to bulbs. So I need your help!
I’m not keeping all of these for myself – I plan to give them as gifts. In fact, I already gave my sweet neighbor a bag of tulips, for less than a cost of a latte! Love that. My store has TONS still in stock and yours probably does too, because the signs still say 50% off in the stores. Tricky!
So are you going to Lowe’s? Let me know if you find them on 75% off!!
(Thank you, One Hundred Dollars a Month!)
Amy G says
It’s too late for this year in Alaska, but she may be able to store them in the garage, probably best to plant in pots, since the garage will warm significantly earlier than the ground will. If she pots them, they’ll likely sprout before she puts them in the ground, but I’d think they’d have a good chance of making it.
They won’t store until next fall’s planting though, they’ll dry up over the summer. They only have enough energy stored to make it until spring. I wish they’d last longer- I brought some gorgeous tulip bulbs when I moved (just a few, I left most of them planted) and by the time planting was a option, they were goners.
I don’t know much about gardening in WA yet, but I would think it’s fine to plant now, you’ll just get wet. :-). I just planted garlic last weekend.
Celia Husmann says
It’s been pretty warm lately, I think you are fine! 🙂
amy d :-) says
Another question is can you hold the purchased bulbs for next fall to plant then? I’m in a rental and would rather buy at this price and plant them at in the house we’ll be buying next year.
NWGardener says
I think it’s too late for planting bulbs in Alaska. And it’s getting borderline too late for the NW. I would get those bulbs in the ground as soon as you can. They need a certain length of chill time to set nice blossoms for Spring. Put them in pots, larger bulbs on the bottom with smaller ones at the top for a nice mix of blooms. Plant them pointy end up without touching each other. They can be crowded as long as they are not touching. If you plant them in the yard plant in groups rather than a bulb here and there. They look better in the Spring that way. You will not regret your efforts now when, in Spring, all those pretty flowers come up. It does wonders for chasing away the winter blues!!
Maureen says
I don’t think we’ve missed planting bulb time for our area at all, especially since it hasn’t been all that cold yet. I’m surprised they are on sale so cheap already–guess where I’m stopping after work today! 🙂
I’d recommend planting them within the next two weeks.
I plant bulbs spaced like the package recommends, but then they always seem too sparse. You can plant them closer than the package recommends.
Bulbs are planted with the tip up and the roots down. Sometimes it’s hard to tell, but you can usually see some scraggly dried up roots that would go down, and usually the bulb tapers or makes a tip that would go up.
I don’t know about the other stuff you asked, except probably can’t plant or grow these in frozen Alaska, though maybe in pots would work.