Spring Flowers from bulbs for the Lazy Gardener - Page 3
1. Daffodils like should be planted after the beginning of November, if you plant to early The ground will be much to warm, if you wait, the ground will have cooled enough that they won't sprout and then die off, this is a very expensive and frustrating experience. So learn from my mistake and wait. Last fall as an experiment I refrigerated 200 daffodil bulbs and then planted them in December. They did not come up, although I had carefully for a change followed the directions given by the grower.
At the same time I planted 500 daffodils (assorted) that were a mistake! From Amazon I had actually ordered 250 bulbs, and for some reason Amazon duplicated my order. So I ended up with 500 bulbs. What can you do? Return them? Heck no, it was like a stroke of fortune as far as I was concerned and I so did not do the happy gardener dance where my hubby could see it! But I did plant them and waited checking anxiously until I saw the crisp green tips emerge from the ground. The first daffodils bloomed on Feb. 1-2005.I had daffodils blooming until June 2005.
2. It is a fact of life in Florida that tulips will be annuals, so just deal with it. Honestly because we don't get the hard ground freezes necessary for tulips, we have to choose whether to spend the money, enjoy their short bloom period, or purchase alternate flowers. I am fond of tulips, but since these bulbs were to be a array of color to brighten that bleak period between winter and summer I chose to plant hyacinths instead they at least have a shot at coming back.
3. Hyacinths are rumored to be perennial in Fl. Under the right, so far never specified conditions. All I know is that I put 100 hyacinth bulbs in the front border of my main perennial garden, and by golly I had 100 blooms! I do not think that there is any smell that can compare to hyacinths, it is simply heavenly. I will report next year if they return.
4. Do not cut the foliage off after your flowers have finished blooming, yep its going to be kind of ugly for a couple of weeks, but don't complain you had vases of gorgeous flowers to brighten and scent your house, that non of your neighbors had!
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