Hyacinths potted up, and in bloom

By Kathy Jentz

You’re going to do WHAT to that poor, defenseless bulb?! Getting past its dreadful name, bulb forcing isn’t so bad. In truth, bulb forcing is relatively cheap, easy, and certainly rewarding. A preview of spring in the dead of winter is one of the greatest gifts a gardener can give themselves. Instead of “forcing” bulbs, I prefer to think of it as “tricking them into bloom.” And hey, why not play a little prank once in a while on our plant friends. We’ve certainly had a few played on us! (Who hasn’t planted a new purchase expecting one color bloom and gotten something completely different? I’m still trying to find a place to move the lavender azalea planted among my salmon ones. Some color combinations just don’t work…)

Getting back to tricking your bulbs… Who loves a good trick more than kids? This is one of the best ways to get a child involved in gardening and I highly recommend it for an at-home, rainy day activity.

Daffodils on their way to blooming in mid-winter.

Here are the basics and a few extra tips I’ve learned from past experiments:

Paperwhites

1. Bulb Selection. You don’t need to buy any specific variety or kinds. You can just set aside a few bulbs from those that you bought for outside plantings. After they are done livening up your winter, you can plant them outside after the last frost to return with your other bulbs annually.

One word note of caution:  indoor bulbs can sometimes give off potent smells. Some people love them, some don’t — paperwhites and hyacinth are especially notorious in the love/hate category. Experiment a bit, and you’ll soon learn which scents are to your tastes and which are just too overpowering for inside your home.

2. Timing. Keep in mind that bulbs bloom about 3-4 weeks after they’re removed from cold storage, which lasts about 12 weeks. So if you want blooms for a specific occasion, you need to pot up the bulbs about 16 weeks in advance of the event.

3. Bulb Planting. Regular bulbs should be planted in soil, but at a shallower depth than you would outside. The top of the bulb should be even with the soil line and there needs to be about 2″ of soil below the bulbs for root development. The container should have drainage holes. Because it will be inside your house and no one likes a leaky mess on their furniture, I recommended lining the bottom of the pot with scrap landscape fabric and placing the pot on a good-sized saucer filled with a layer of pebbles. Place the bulbs pointy side up and with the “flat” side towards the outside of the pot and as tight as you like. Crowding them actually makes a nicer visual effect than spacing them out. It also helps the foliage from growing out too much and flopping over. Water in well and weekly thereafter.

Cold storage in the vegetable bin

4. Cold Storage/Removal for Flowering. Place the potted-up bulbs in cold storage for about 12 weeks. Cold storage should be roughly 40-50 degrees and no light – perhaps your basement, garage, or the crisper drawer in your refrigerator. Different bulbs have different cold cycle times but most are between 12-16 weeks. (At the full 16 weeks, tulips need the most time.) Mark your calendars so that you don’t forgot about them.

When you first remove them from storage place them in indirect light and away from a heat source to prevent legginess. After 2 weeks, when they’ve sprouted and several inches high, move them to a sunny, warm window. Once a flowerhead/bud starts to develop, you can then move it to your desired location with indirect sunlight to prolong the bloom life. Keep moist during this entire time out of cold storage. Enjoy!

Kathy Jentz is Editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, the only gardening publication published specifically for the local metro area — zones 6-7 — Washington DC and its suburbs.  The magazine, written entirely by local area gardeners, is published four times per year with a cover price of $4.99. To subscribe to the magazine: Send a check/money order for $20.00 payable to “Washington Gardener” magazine to: Washington Gardener, 826 Philadelphia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910 OR to pay via Paypal/credit card click on the “subscribe” link at www.WashingtonGardener.com.

Photo credits:  Hyacinths by  Elizabeth Licata, Daffodils and cold storage by Kathy Jentz, Paperwhites by Susan Harris.

Fall-planted bulbs are also known as spring-blooming bulbs – you experienced bulb growers know that, of course, but lots of people don’t.  But for newbies AND experienced gardeners we have some new articles on our website.  We recently alerted you to our Critter-Resistant Bulbs article, but look what else we’ve posted:

• When and How to Plant Spring-Blooming Bulbs by Larry Hurley gives the how-to details we count on Larry for.
• Jim Dronenberg’s Introduction to Spring-Blooming Bulbs covers the most popular types of bulbs, plus how to combine them and which ones you can grow in the shade.
• The Other Spring-Blooming Bulbs by Randy Best shows and explains those too-often-overlooked smaller bulbs: snowdrops, winter aconite, wood hyacinth, iris reticulata, chionodoxa, grape hyacinth, crocuses, anemone, and the fritillary family.  (Now that he mentions them, I had to count up how many of them I’ve grown – five.  Not bad, but I’ve never tried fritillarias and they’re too cool-looking to pass up!  Photo right.)

Don’t Miss Randy’s Bulb Talk this Saturday!

Speaking of Randy’s knowledge of spring-blooming bulbs, that’s what he’ll cover in his 10:00 talk this Saturday at our Beltsville location.  He’ll be discussing basic bulb varieties (big and small), how to pick out a” good” bulb, planting rules of thumb, what to avoid if you have deer problems, and much more.  Bring your questions!

Posted by Susan Harris.

Triumph tulip (L) and Kaufmanniana tulip (R)

by Susan Harris

One way to enjoy tulips is to treat them as annuals.  That way you choose any type you like, and have the fun of a trying a new color scheme every year.   And that’s what I did before deer made their way to my neighborhood and I had to give up tulips altogether.  This tulips-as-annuals strategy worked for me because I only had space for 30 to 40 of them, so it was a fairly affordable little extravagance.  And even deep-planting of the bulbs each year was super-easy because the beds they were destined for were filled with pure compost.  

But if you’re like most people, who really want tulips to bloom again the next year, follow these tips and there’s a good chance they’ll  do just that.

Waterlily tulip (L) and Emperor tulip (R)

The Right Types of Tulips

If they’re labeled as “perennializing” or “naturalizing,” that’s a good bet but especially if the bulbs are of these types:

Darwin Hybrids

• Tulipa kaufmanniana or “waterlily tulips” and their hybrids. They’re hardy in Zones 4-8 and according to Ilene, reliable rebloomers.
• Emperor tulips (T. fosteriana) and their hybrids, which are also hardy in Zones 4-8.
• Greiggi tulips (T. greigii) and their hybrids. Hardy in Zones 4-8.
• Darwin Hybrids, Single Early, Double Early and some Triumph tulips also perennialize.

What to Do with Them

• Good drainage is KEY to tulip survival (to prevent disease and rot). To improve drainage, add organic matter like compost, or coarse sand to the soil.
• Plant in mid to late autumn (in November here in Maryland), plant the tulips deeply — like 8 to 10 inches deep, measured from the base. Water immediately after planting.
• After the blooms fade, remove flowers but allow the foliage to die naturally.
• A low-nitrogen fertilizer at fall planting time and each fall thereafter is suggested, too.

Foiling Squirrels
Here’s what I used to do and it worked, I tell you! Just add some red pepper flakes in the planting hole, more or less on TOP of the tulip bulb. With the use of pepper flakes I achieved 100 percent bloom from tulips in my squirrel-filled garden, so I know there are some frustrated critters out there.  Power to the gardener!

Photo credits:  Triumph and Darwins; Kaufmanniana and Emperor; Waterlily.

That’s my number one take-away from Randy Best’s new video of him potting up some paperwhites.  Number two is that I simply must have one of these deep vases that hold up the otherwise-flopping  leaves of paperwhites and make them look their prettiest with no staking or the use of alcohol.  (One technique for preventing flopping is to spike their water.  I’m not making that up.)   The vases are gorgeous, too.

Catch Randy’s last Bulb-Forcing Workshop – Tomorrow from 11 a.m. to noon.

Posted by Susan Harris.

Behnke’s Spring Bulb Collection Has Arrived!

Dahlias, Lilies, Begonias, Gladiolus, Callas, Cannas, Caladiums, Peonies,
Onions, Garlic, and much more!

With the snow melting, spring is just around the corner! Now is the perfect time to stop in at Behnke Nurseries and pick up your Spring Bulbs!

Plant in spring, for summer blooms. With a wide assortment we have everything you need for success! Don’t forget your Bulb-Tone Plant Food while your here.

Spring-Planted Bulb Questions & Answers