In article .com,
"armyguy" wrote:

I live in Alaska and didn't get my bulbs until after december, I read
that you can start bulbs in spagnum in planters before you plant them
after the frost. Will this help as the growing season can be short up
here.

Jack


I have the same problem as you, and I'm near Homer, Alaska.
I still have 3 feet of snow on the ground.

I don't know if this will work, but it's what I'm going to try:

pot up the bulbs in potting soil; put them in the bottom of
the fridge or in the neighbor's root cellar or dig a hole in
a snowbank and bury the pots. Let the bulbs grow some roots.
(They can't freeze, but being buried in deep snow won't hurt
them. A root cellar or fridge would be *great* if you have
room in the fridge or access to a root cellar, garage,
basement or something like that.)

When the ground thaws, I'll try to carefully transplant the
bulbs into the ground.

I don't know if it'll work or not. My bulbs spent most
of the winter in the fridge, in their bags. They're in the
kitchen now, and are starting to sprout a little bit of green.

(We got tired of not having room for food. I have
laying hens and have to store 10-12 dozen eggs/week in
the fridge, between my market days, when I sell the eggs.)

A pot of Angelique tulips that I potted up and left in the
fridge all winteris on my windowsill right now, in bloom.
Pink doubles -- really nice, especially with so much snow
still on the ground outside, but the pot of daffodils I forced
just grew leaves -- no flowers yet. (?)


Jan Flora
Homer, Alaska
Zone 3 or 4, depending on who you ask

--
The way to a man's heart is between the fourth and the fifth rib.