"Gary & Karen" wrote in message
...
According to Rebecca Garden on tv, the bulbs should be planted when night
temps are consistently below 40 degrees.

Interesting guideline, but air temperature is not necessarily indicative of
soil temperature in a given spot. Exposure to sun, proximity to warming
factors like the house foundation, elevation relative to higher or lower
places in the yard, all these things will have an effect.

Unfortunately, the gardener may have to listen to extended weather
forecasts, read actual paper books (from a library) about the species he
intends to plant, and then simply DO IT. Work, thinking, common sense, and
risk, in other words.