Bulbs - will you be planting any this year?

[pauline3]

Hi everyone,will you be planting any this year?..I missed out last year,so bought some tulips from Lidl,when do you plant them?..

I also would like to buy a load of daffodil,I love watching them pop up through the winter,…what are your favourite bulbs?.

[AnnieS]

Tulips, lots of them in many different colours. I have a great system that stops the squirrels. Foil covers.

[Muddy]

The squirrels eat your bulbs ?

[Nicol]

I’ve just dug out some lily bulbs that were tiny when I put them in but now are massive. Waiting for them to dry out a bit then will store them away for winter and replanting in spring.

Also from the same place I removed some tulip bulbs, they’ve been replanted elsewhere.

I do have some crocus bulbs coming, free gift from one of the online plant suppliers I use.

[Meg]

No bulbs here, I find they are over too quickly.
I have planted lots of scented dwarf wallflowers, cream and orange and primulas. They should flower for weeks

[Bratti]

Yes daffodils. Lots of them. I usually get 80 per year.
Maybe some tulips. YES squirrels and chipmunks uproot them to eat so even though they are supposed to multiple, sometimes they don’t. At least not here.

[pauline3]

@Nicol

I’ve just dug out some lily bulbs that were tiny when I put them in but now are massive. Waiting for them to dry out a bit then will store them away for winter and replanting in spring.

Also from the same place I removed some tulip bulbs, they’ve been replanted elsewhere.

I do have some crocus bulbs coming, free gift from one of the online plant suppliers I use.

I never thought you had to dig up lily bulbs,Nicol,do they get bigger each year?..if you dig them up?

I do remember though,leaving tulips in a tub,expecting them to come up the next year,the leaves came up,but no flowers,any idea why?..

[pauline3]

I love wall flowers,and yes,they last a very long time.

[pauline3]

Annie and Bratti,I would love to see your gardens,in the spring,I bet you both have a beautiful show.

[Besoeker]

@pauline3

Hi everyone,will you be planting any this year?..I missed out last year,so bought some tulips from Lidl,when do you plant them?..

I also would like to buy a load of daffodil,I love watching them pop up through the winter,…what are your favourite bulbs?.

I usually just plug them int light fittings…:-p

[Bratti]

@pauline3

I never thought you had to dig up lily bulbs,Nicol,do they get bigger each year?..if you dig them up?

I do remember though,leaving tulips in a tub,expecting them to come up the next year,the leaves came up,but no flowers,any idea why?..

Your tub might not have been big enough / deep enough to insulate the bulbs and protect them from the frost. The fact that leaves came up but no flowers suggests that the tub doesn’t offer enough protection so the bulbs got damaged.

My tiger lilies and asiatic lilies are all perennial.

[Bratti]

Here you go Pauline. I do have pictures.
Unfortunately I deleted this spring’s flowers but I copied pics off my old phone from last year’s bulbs . They aren’t great pictures but for now they are all I can find.

http://i66.tinypic.com/hvoutk.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2nhzxtx.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/2py5g1t.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/zojqtk.jpg

And I know pansies are bulbs but they’re so spring like and pretty so I usually have a bunch of these baskets

http://i68.tinypic.com/beac8g.jpg

[Nicol]

@pauline3

I never thought you had to dig up lily bulbs,Nicol,do they get bigger each year?..if you dig them up?

I do remember though,leaving tulips in a tub,expecting them to come up the next year,the leaves came up,but no flowers,any idea why?..

Errrrmmmmmmmm, it’s advisable to dig them up if they’re going to get waterlogged over winter or if your winters are very, very harsh. The reason I dug mine up is because they were too big for the planter, I didn’t realise how big they would get :o

With most bulbs you have to leave the annoying, scraggy looking leaves attached to the plant, even after the flowers are finished, as the leaves absorb the sunshine and feed the bulbs. If you cut the leaves off too soon they won’t flower next year.

Another problem is maybe poor compost that needs feeding. I usually top dress my bulb pots each year and add slow release fertiliser.

[Nicol]

Here’s the lillies, you can’t see the container but it’s far too shallow to sustain them, they were very big and I managed to cut the top off the picture

[Bratti]

@pauline3

I never thought you had to dig up lily bulbs,Nicol,do they get bigger each year?..if you dig them up?

I do remember though,leaving tulips in a tub,expecting them to come up the next year,the leaves came up,but no flowers,any idea why?..

Sorry ! I hadn’t noticed this was directed at Nicol:blush:

[Mups]

@Meg

No bulbs here, I find they are over too quickly.
I have planted lots of scented dwarf wallflowers, cream and orange and primulas. They should flower for weeks

I am trying the dwarf wallflowers this year too, Meg.
I have grown them myself and had almost 100 germinate and grow to make nice little plants.
I gave some to a friend as I didn’t need that many.
They are about ready to plant out now.

I also have grown 45 mixed Primroses and quite a few Pansies, so I have got plenty to be getting on with planting them all out now.

With Tulips, I love those tall fringed ones, especially the pure white ones. They remind me swans wings.

I always have some Hyacinths and Amaryllis indoors around Christmas time too.

I do love to see the spring bulbs, but get frustrated at how long you have to leave the greenery to die down after flowering, they look such a mess at that stage.

These were some pretty little ones in a pot last year.

[pauline3]

@Bratti

Here you go Pauline. I do have pictures.
Unfortunately I deleted this spring’s flowers but I copied pics off my old phone from last year’s bulbs . They aren’t great pictures but for now they are all I can find.

http://i66.tinypic.com/hvoutk.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2nhzxtx.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/2py5g1t.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/zojqtk.jpg

And I know pansies are bulbs but they’re so spring like and
pretty so I usually have a bunch of these baskets

http://i68.tinypic.com/beac8g.jpg

What a beautiful show!!.

[pauline3]

@Nicol

Here’s the lillies, you can’t see the container but it’s far too shallow to sustain them, they were very big and I managed to cut the top off the picture

42254150 2238007019762339 7665015734153510912 n — Postimages

Gosh!,they are huge,Nicol,…very pretty.

[pauline3]

@Mups

I am trying the dwarf wallflowers this year too, Meg.
I have grown them myself and had almost 100 germinate and grow to make nice little plants.
I gave some to a friend as I didn’t need that many.
They are about ready to plant out now.

I also have grown 45 mixed Primroses and quite a few Pansies, so I have got plenty to be getting on with planting them all out now.

With Tulips, I love those tall fringed ones, especially the pure white ones. They remind me swans wings.

I always have some Hyacinths and Amaryllis indoors around

Christmas time too.

I do love to see the spring bulbs, but get frustrated at how long you have to leave the greenery to die down after flowering, they look such a mess at that stage.

These were some pretty little ones in a pot last year.

https://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=542&pictureid=11815

Very pretty,Mups,I had a beautiful Amaryllis last year,I also buy Hyacinths as well,they have a beautiful perfume.

[pauline3]

@Nicol

Errrrmmmmmmmm, it’s advisable to dig them up if they’re going to get waterlogged over winter or if your winters are very, very harsh. The reason I dug mine up is because they were too big for the planter, I didn’t realise how big they would get :o

With most bulbs you have to leave the annoying, scraggy looking leaves attached to the plant, even after the flowers are finished, as the leaves absorb the sunshine and feed the bulbs. If you cut the leaves off too soon they won’t flower next year.

Another problem is maybe poor compost that needs feeding. I usually top dress my bulb pots each year and add slow release fertiliser.

Looking back,because they were in pots,I reckon the frost got them,as the earth would have froze,…I can’t wait to plant my bulbs,then post pics of them next year.