Planting Season
All this warm weather is gearing me up. I’ve organized last years seeds and have oredered some new ones. I missed the fall to plant some tulip bulbs, which is when I think you’re supposed to do it. Anyone know what would happen if I tried them now? How about other seeds? I know it’s…
All this warm weather is gearing me up. I’ve organized last years seeds and have oredered some new ones. I missed the fall to plant some tulip bulbs, which is when I think you’re supposed to do it. Anyone know what would happen if I tried them now? How about other seeds? I know it’s early for most things now. When are folks thinking of getting started for this summer?
It depends on the tulip bulbs – I have some that have naturalized & have proliferated for over 20 years – someone brought 8 to me from Holland & there’re now at least 4 times that many & I’ve moved some to other parts of the garden. I do add bone meal around them & let the greens die back – they feed the bulbs as they wither. Tulips that are flowering now in pots are almost “on time” & should be o.k. for next year if planted now.
I second Scheepers. Been buying from them for years.
For perennials… http://www.springhillnursery.com
They have some grreat specials on hostas, ferns & astilbe.
There are tons of summer bulbs — plant in spring for summer bloom. Take a look at these two suppliers. I’ve used them both and their product is excellent. Come with planting instructions too. http://www.mzbulb.com/ and http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/
Spring-flowering plants like tulips, daffodils, crocuses, snow drops, etc. need to be planted in the late fall because they need a period of cold to develop. Best supplier for tulips and daffodils, etc. is: http://www.johnscheepers.com/
Or either of the two suppliers above.
Actually frost-free date for Brooklyn is April 15 or so. You can plant hardy things shortly after that…
Unless the tulip bulbs have been prepared for forcing (ie, kept in the dark and frozen or kept cold over the winter) they probably won’t sprout at the right time. You might get some foliage but they’ll probably fail.
The idea of planting potted flowering tulips isn’t a bad one. Even the best treated tulip bulbs will only come back for a few years though.
Why not try to get some pansies? They’re very hardy and should do fine planted outside soon. Often they’ll last all summer if you deadhead them and keep them watered.
Get a head start and make a note to order your tulip bulbs early for next year. Tulips are freakishly fickle and really do need to be planted in the fall. Meantime, you can plant lily bulbs in big containers right now and you will have huge gorgeous flowers in July. A few years ago, I planted sunflowers in early April and by early July, I had amazing, huge blooms. Go for it.
Last year we missed the fall cut off for tulip bulbs as well. So we went to Home depot and bought cheap potted tulips, planted them enjoyed them and now those same bulbs have started coming up for this spring.
The last frost is late April to mid-May for us, so now is not too late to start seeds indoors to set out then. always seems to me that as soon as the trees have leaves everybody magically suddenly has a full garden of summer stuff out.