Originally Posted by John McGaw

On 2/6/2011 8:13 AM, GrowGuru wrote:
Hi There.
I am wondering if anyone out there could tell me if it is too late to
plant bulbs now.
I have many Iris and dafodils and tulip bulbs that were purchased in
October.
They have been stored in a cool dak place since.
Any advice regarding the use of these would be greatly appreciated.
Thank-you.


Whether it is "too late to plant" is probably less important than "is there
going to be a better time to plant?". Face it, the bulbs aren't getting any
younger and it is unlikely that any time in the future will be a better
time than right now to get them into the ground. If you plant them and they
don't perform well, at least they will be performing far better than they
will in the "cool da[r]k place". If you wait until the traditional Autumn
planting season you can be sure that the situation won't improve any.

My idiot daffodils are breaking ground now along with a hyacinth or two and
a sprinkling of crocuses. I'm sure that, given our sporadic weather, that
they will all have their tender little tips frozen solid before long. That
is a perfect reason for planting bulbs by the hundreds wherever you can get
away with it -- some always survive. With luck the 150 English bluebells I
planted last year will make an appearance this Spring and reward me for my
hard labor. Those bulbs are hard to come by over here but I keep thinking
back to the splendor of the meadows and woods full of them that I saw while
walking across Cumbria and Northumberland so I keep planting them hoping to
finally find a site which they can tolerate.