Madgardener's post is a good lead-in to my question. :-)

I bought a huge bag of fancyish tulip bulbs on clearance in late
November because the weather had been warmer than usual and the ground
was still soft. Well, the very night that I bought them the temperature
plunged and the ground froze. The bulbs are still in the bag in my
basement. The weather has been unseasonably warm the whole month of
January, but still below freezing.

Is it worth refrigerating the bulbs and then planting them at the first
thaw in spring? Or should I plant them now in a huge pot and sit it out
in the garage (where it will take a *long* time to freeze if the weather
holds.) Or should I throw them away? I only paid a couple of dollars
for 70 bulbs, but I hate to throw *anything* out. (you should see my
basement)

Thanks,
Bob

"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
Madgardener's post is a good lead-in to my question. :-)

I bought a huge bag of fancyish tulip bulbs on clearance in late November
because the weather had been warmer than usual and the ground was still
soft. Well, the very night that I bought them the temperature plunged and
the ground froze. The bulbs are still in the bag in my basement. The
weather has been unseasonably warm the whole month of January, but still
below freezing.

Is it worth refrigerating the bulbs and then planting them at the first
thaw in spring? Or should I plant them now in a huge pot and sit it out
in the garage (where it will take a *long* time to freeze if the weather
holds.) Or should I throw them away? I only paid a couple of dollars for
70 bulbs, but I hate to throw *anything* out. (you should see my
basement)

I have planted tulips as late as New Years Day here in zone 6 and they did
just fine. I always buy my bulbs when they go on deep discount. I wouldn't
throw them away. Put them in the ground or in pots. I'm sure they will be
fine.

zxcvbob wrote:
Madgardener's post is a good lead-in to my question. :-)

I bought a huge bag of fancyish tulip bulbs on clearance in late
November because the weather had been warmer than usual and the ground
was still soft. Well, the very night that I bought them the temperature
plunged and the ground froze. The bulbs are still in the bag in my
basement. The weather has been unseasonably warm the whole month of
January, but still below freezing.

Is it worth refrigerating the bulbs and then planting them at the first
thaw in spring? Or should I plant them now in a huge pot and sit it out
in the garage (where it will take a *long* time to freeze if the weather
holds.) Or should I throw them away? I only paid a couple of dollars
for 70 bulbs, but I hate to throw *anything* out. (you should see my
basement)

Thanks,
Bob

I would definitely plant them outside right now being sure to maintain
the full required depth and then adding a few inches of mulch on top. I
routinely plant bulbs (zone 6-ish) between Christmas and New Years after
having bought what I could find at the last "everything must go"
clearance sales. My success rate has been very good so far and tulip
bulbs, while not as bulletproof as daffodils, are still mighty tough.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

John McGaw wrote:
zxcvbob wrote:

Madgardener's post is a good lead-in to my question. :-)

I bought a huge bag of fancyish tulip bulbs on clearance in late
November because the weather had been warmer than usual and the ground
was still soft. Well, the very night that I bought them the
temperature plunged and the ground froze. The bulbs are still in the
bag in my basement. The weather has been unseasonably warm the whole
month of January, but still below freezing.

Is it worth refrigerating the bulbs and then planting them at the
first thaw in spring? Or should I plant them now in a huge pot and
sit it out in the garage (where it will take a *long* time to freeze
if the weather holds.) Or should I throw them away? I only paid a
couple of dollars for 70 bulbs, but I hate to throw *anything* out.
(you should see my basement)

Thanks,
Bob


I would definitely plant them outside right now being sure to maintain
the full required depth and then adding a few inches of mulch on top. I
routinely plant bulbs (zone 6-ish) between Christmas and New Years after
having bought what I could find at the last "everything must go"
clearance sales. My success rate has been very good so far and tulip
bulbs, while not as bulletproof as daffodils, are still mighty tough.



I don't have a big jackhammer with a wide chisel point. (ground is
probably frozen for at least a meter.)

Bob, zone 4

I vote for first thaw. They will not bloom, but they will make food for
next year.

Madgardener's post is a good lead-in to my question. :-)



I bought a huge bag of fancyish tulip bulbs on clearance in late November
because the weather had been warmer than usual and the ground was still
soft. Well, the very night that I bought them the temperature plunged and
the ground froze. The bulbs are still in the bag in my basement. The weather
has been unseasonably warm the whole month of January, but still below
freezing. Is it worth refrigerating the bulbs and then planting them at the
first thaw in spring?

You don't have to refrigerate them if they've been in the basement. I would
think the basement is cool. Go down there and sort thru them, feeling them
to check for softness and dry, dead ones. No moldy ones allowed either.
then...................(see bottom)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Or should I plant them now in a huge pot and sit it out in the garage
(where it will take a *long* time to freeze if the weather holds.) Or should
I throw them away? I only paid a couple of dollars for 70 bulbs, but I hate
to throw *anything* out. (you should see my basement) Bob

~~~~~~~~~~~

I vote that you go to the local Lowes or Home Despot and get some good
bagged soil and pot them babies up. Make sure they're seven inches deep,
which means a good size pot of course. If you have any bulb food leftover,
sprinkle it around the bulbs before you topdress them, and firm the soil
good. Water it really well until it's all drained and set them in the
garage and let them discover that they're really in SOIL!!woo hoo!!!!! and
you might start seeing little green tongues poking up when the weather
finally starts acting like Spring in yer neck of the woods.

The neat thing about potted tulips is that you can bring a few into the
house where it's warm and force them to enjoy when you're going nuts for
color, and the rest you can just let them grow as they discover it's truely
spring. You will then have a choice. Either leave them in the pots and put
them around your yard and porch and what not, or gently tip them into holes
and plug them into the garden to finish out their time in the real ground.

You don't HAVE to do that, but it would be instant pockets of tulips. What
kind of fancy tulips? Parrots and Peony tulips will do wonderfully the
first year, fair the second year and compost the third. Lily tulips on the
other hand might actually return for you if you feed them granulated bulb
food in the fall. I have a Marilyn tulip that returns for me from a
container she lives in at the end of the sidewalk, but I think that it's two
reasons......she's a tender "perennial" tulip, and I feed her and all the
other bulbs in the fall with granulated food. (and she's seven inches deep
in the pot!) Let us know what colors and kinds and how they do. You'll
have a blast potting up those bulbs.

by the way, in pots, you can plant them "cheek to jowl" and they won't mind.
If you decide to plug some of the pots in once the ground is soft enough to
dig that hole for them, the closeness won't matter either. It will depend on
what kinds of tulips you got that will tell wheather they'll return. For a
sale and some smiles, you did great!!.

madgardener

QUOTE=Vox Humana "zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
Madgardener's post is a good lead-in to my question. :-)

I bought a huge bag of fancyish tulip bulbs on clearance in late November
because the weather had been warmer than usual and the ground was still
soft. Well, the very night that I bought them the temperature plunged and
the ground froze. The bulbs are still in the bag in my basement. The
weather has been unseasonably warm the whole month of January, but still
below freezing.

Is it worth refrigerating the bulbs and then planting them at the first
thaw in spring? Or should I plant them now in a huge pot and sit it out
in the garage (where it will take a *long* time to freeze if the weather
holds.) Or should I throw them away? I only paid a couple of dollars for
70 bulbs, but I hate to throw *anything* out. (you should see my
basement)

I have planted tulips as late as New Years Day here in zone 6 and they did
just fine. I always buy my bulbs when they go on deep discount. I wouldn't
throw them away. Put them in the ground or in pots. I'm sure they will be
fine.


maddie here is something that u might try if u have a section of flowerbed that is heavily mulched the ground might not be totally frozen if not then open a section and just put the bulbs in there for now they need to be in the ground i think anyways.
the other option u have is to put your bulbs in pots then take them to the flowerbeds and plant down as far as u can then cover them with a mulch to help keep the pots from heaving.
what u do if the ground is frozen is pour boiling water on the ground enough to get it to thaw some dig it then sink your pots in.
hope this helps u some. good luck, sockiescat.

it's unlikely to freeze hard enough in your garage to damage the bulbs if
they are in pots in damp soil. Usually the interior of a structure rarely
goes more than a few degrees below freezing, and that only in the coldest
weather.

On 2006-01-25 13:49:39 -0500, zxcvbob said:

Madgardener's post is a good lead-in to my question. :-)

I bought a huge bag of fancyish tulip bulbs on clearance in late
November because the weather had been warmer than usual and the ground
was still soft. Well, the very night that I bought them the
temperature plunged and the ground froze. The bulbs are still in the
bag in my basement. The weather has been unseasonably warm the whole
month of January, but still below freezing.

Is it worth refrigerating the bulbs and then planting them at the first
thaw in spring? Or should I plant them now in a huge pot and sit it
out in the garage (where it will take a *long* time to freeze if the
weather holds.) Or should I throw them away? I only paid a couple of
dollars for 70 bulbs, but I hate to throw *anything* out. (you should
see my basement)

Thanks,
Bob


If the ground is workable plant them now.

"Tom Randy" wrote in message
news:2006012606023216807%Sorry@spamsucksnet...
On 2006-01-25 13:49:39 -0500, zxcvbob said:

Madgardener's post is a good lead-in to my question. :-)

I bought a huge bag of fancyish tulip bulbs on clearance in late November
because the weather had been warmer than usual and the ground was still
soft. Well, the very night that I bought them the temperature plunged
and the ground froze. The bulbs are still in the bag in my basement.
The weather has been unseasonably warm the whole month of January, but
still below freezing.

Is it worth refrigerating the bulbs and then planting them at the first
thaw in spring? Or should I plant them now in a huge pot and sit it out
in the garage (where it will take a *long* time to freeze if the weather
holds.) Or should I throw them away? I only paid a couple of dollars
for 70 bulbs, but I hate to throw *anything* out. (you should see my
basement)

Thanks,
Bob


If the ground is workable plant them now.

I start my weed plants indoors.

madgardener wrote:
You don't HAVE to do that, but it would be instant pockets of tulips. What
kind of fancy tulips? Parrots and Peony tulips will do wonderfully the
first year, fair the second year and compost the third. Lily tulips on the
other hand might actually return for you if you feed them granulated bulb
food in the fall. I have a Marilyn tulip that returns for me from a
container she lives in at the end of the sidewalk, but I think that it's two
reasons......she's a tender "perennial" tulip, and I feed her and all the
other bulbs in the fall with granulated food. (and she's seven inches deep
in the pot!) Let us know what colors and kinds and how they do. You'll
have a blast potting up those bulbs.



The are bicolored. There's not much info on the package, but the
variety names are "Blue Beauty" (they don't look blue in the picture)
and "Claudia".

Best regards,
Bob

My first tulips of the season are already blooming! They're T.
kaufmanniana 'Early Harvest' -- as their name implies they're SUPPOSED to
be among the earliest tulips possible, but last year they didn't bloom
until March, so they're about five or six weeks ahead of themselves this
year. There'll be some other kaufmannianas following soon.

Since December I've had early-blooming crocuses up, including C. korolowii
'Mountain Glory' bloomed (they appeared mid-January last year, by late
December this year); C. sieberi atticus 'Firefly' blooming now, a week or
two earlier than usual. White "tommies" have been blooming for over a
week (they waited until February last year, always ahead of the regular
purple tommies). Crocus ancyrensis 'Golden Bunch' is always notoriously
early, it's been in huge yellow bud for three weeks but because it wants
brightest bright sun & we've had only overcast days the buds refuse to
open (when they finally do open, they could well get beaten to pieces in
one day if it rains, so I like having them as long-lasting yellow buds).
C. laevigatus var fontenayi also bloomed in December, but they're a true
winter crocus so that wasn't unexpected; the 'Mountain Glory' blooming in
December ahead of even 'Golden Bunch' was a big suprise.

Iris reticulata 'Purple Gem' has been blooming for over a week while Iris
x histroides 'Katherine Hodgkin' is in big fat bud that might open later
today. These two irises bloomed February last year so are two or three
weeks earlier than expected. If a lot of stuff seems a mite early this
year, the winter-flowering hepaticas are by contrast a mite late, I guess
they feel it just hasn't been cold enough to really be winter.

Winter cyclamens (C. coum) are still in full bloom all over the place.
Narcissus grass is up all over the place, but only a few buds, no blooms
this early.

Just about every year there's SOMEthing blooming much earlier than I
expect & just about every year someone says "It's global warming" but I
suspect most people just forget when blooms started appearing the previous
year & are surprised each year when spring flowers appear before spring.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
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"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas Jefferson