I planted two kinds of these from bulbs I bought at Home Depot after the
soil had warmed up and hard frosts were done, but many weeks later, not
a shoot is to be seen anywhere.

I dug up one patch and found a moldy bulb and one that looked fine but
had nothing happening with it.

We've had a LOT of rain, but it's been warm. My dahlia roots, planted
about the same time have stuck little shoots up already. Bagged cheap
day lillies also planted at the same time are doing great.

I found conflicting advice about when to plant Crocosmia in Zone 5, with
some saying in the fall and others in the spring.

Should I keep waiting for them to wake up or yank them and put in
something else? They're taking up a lot of room in the limited sunny
area of my garden and if they're not going to do anything I'd like to
replace them with something else.


--Jenny
Zone 5 on cold hillside

Jenny,

I have had many of the same problems, except that I purchased my bulbs
from Walmart.

I think the place you purchase it from is a clue to how well they will
perform.

Walmart's care of their garden center is horrendous. They do not seem
to water any plant, as each time I go in the soils in the pots are
bone-dry.

I bought $45.00 worth of Iris bulbs only to discover, upon opening the
bags up an examining further, that over half were severly infected with
Thripes. ****es me Off!! -Especialy since the the thripes could not be
seen through the bags or else I would have most definately NOT
purchased them.

The only thing I would suggest is carefuly dig up the bulbs and dispose
of any that are suffering from soft-rot or which are otherwise no
longer viable. Place them in a bowl and loosly cover them with sand.
You may then place the bowl in the fridge for a week and then check to
see if any new root formation has developed. If so, replant them and
see if they take off from there. If they don't you might want to take
the bowl out of the fridge and place them in a dark location that is
protected from extremes in humidity and attempt to plant in the fall or
winter. You might also just leave them be and count your losses. Next
year they might suprise you by gracing you with their presence.

-Jason

Jenny I planted two kinds of these from bulbs I bought at Home Depot after the
soil had warmed up and hard frosts were done, but many weeks later, not
a shoot is to be seen anywhere.

I dug up one patch and found a moldy bulb and one that looked fine but
had nothing happening with it.

We've had a LOT of rain, but it's been warm. My dahlia roots, planted
about the same time have stuck little shoots up already. Bagged cheap
day lillies also planted at the same time are doing great.

I found conflicting advice about when to plant Crocosmia in Zone 5, with
some saying in the fall and others in the spring.

Should I keep waiting for them to wake up or yank them and put in
something else? They're taking up a lot of room in the limited sunny
area of my garden and if they're not going to do anything I'd like to
replace them with something else.


--Jenny
Zone 5 on cold hillside


jenny crocosmia bulbs should be planted in the spring time. u didnt say how long ago u planted them but from the sounds of things its been quite awhile.
what i would do is put them somewhere else and see what grows thats about all u can do right now. i would also mention it to you home depot as to whats going on with the bulbs.
here is a link that might help u some. good luck. cyaaaa, sockiescat.
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/p....asp?code=H680

Lucky wrote:
Jenny,

I have had many of the same problems, except that I purchased my bulbs
from Walmart.

I think the place you purchase it from is a clue to how well they will
perform.

Walmart's care of their garden center is horrendous. They do not seem
to water any plant, as each time I go in the soils in the pots are
bone-dry.

I bought $45.00 worth of Iris bulbs only to discover, upon opening the
bags up an examining further, that over half were severly infected with
Thripes. ****es me Off!! -Especialy since the the thripes could not be
seen through the bags or else I would have most definately NOT
purchased them.

The only thing I would suggest is carefuly dig up the bulbs and dispose
of any that are suffering from soft-rot or which are otherwise no
longer viable. Place them in a bowl and loosly cover them with sand.
You may then place the bowl in the fridge for a week and then check to
see if any new root formation has developed. If so, replant them and
see if they take off from there. If they don't you might want to take
the bowl out of the fridge and place them in a dark location that is
protected from extremes in humidity and attempt to plant in the fall or
winter. You might also just leave them be and count your losses. Next
year they might suprise you by gracing you with their presence.

--Jenny

Thanks, Jason. That sounds like some very helpful advice, I'm going to
dig up a few patches and try the fridge trick, leave the rest, and plant
over some of them because I just hate to waste sun. My garden is
about 75% shaded and though some happy columbines, day lilies, lupines,
and non-stop begonias have helped me come to terms with shade, I do
treasure the few spots where I can grow something sun-loving!

The bulbs looked fine when I planted them,. I've had the same
experience as you mention with buggy, rotted, Wal-mart plants and don't
put anything into my garden now without giving it a very careful look
over. It may just be too wet for them or it may be they don't like my
red rock/sandy soil. Irises won't grow in it either, though Dahlias love
it.

sockiescat wrote:

jenny crocosmia bulbs should be planted in the spring time. u didnt say
how long ago u planted them but from the sounds of things its been quite
awhile.

I planted them in early May after the risk of hard frost was over. We
have not had a hard frost since then, only a very light touch of frost
that darkened leaves on a few marigolds I'd gambled with but didn't kill
them.


here is a link that might help u some. good luck.
Thanks, what is described in your link,
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/p....asp?code=H680

is exactly what I did. Maybe I'm just not patient enough! g




--
--Jenny

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes Diabetes Info

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm Get Your Blood
Sugar Under Control

SO - don't buy flowers and bulbs at big box stores. You don't know how
long they have layed in a warehouse or what they have been treated with.

Mel & Donnie down in Bluebird Valley In the middle of beautiful down
town Yountsville. Managers of the water works.
http://community.webtv.net/MelDKelly/doc

http://community.webtv.net/MelDKelly/MelDonniesBluebird

"Lucky" wrote in news:1149374722.290581.23100
@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:


Jenny,

I have had many of the same problems, except that I purchased my bulbs
from Walmart.

I think the place you purchase it from is a clue to how well they will
perform.

Walmart's care of their garden center is horrendous. They do not seem
to water any plant, as each time I go in the soils in the pots are
bone-dry.

I bought $45.00 worth of Iris bulbs only to discover, upon opening the
bags up an examining further, that over half were severly infected with
Thripes. ****es me Off!! -Especialy since the the thripes could not be
seen through the bags or else I would have most definately NOT
purchased them.

The only thing I would suggest is carefuly dig up the bulbs and dispose
of any that are suffering from soft-rot or which are otherwise no
longer viable. Place them in a bowl and loosly cover them with sand.
You may then place the bowl in the fridge for a week and then check to
see if any new root formation has developed. If so, replant them and
see if they take off from there. If they don't you might want to take
the bowl out of the fridge and place them in a dark location that is
protected from extremes in humidity and attempt to plant in the fall or
winter. You might also just leave them be and count your losses. Next
year they might suprise you by gracing you with their presence.

-Jason


ARRRGHHHHHH!!!!! to WalMart! But in my case, the crocosmia are about the
only things that have come up! And even though only 5 of the 25 bulbs
came up, I know its because most ended up as squirrel chow (holes in the
patch, left over bits of bulb).

Anemone - 3 of the 9 have come up (I doubt that the other 6 were squirrel
chow).

Caladiums - NONE of the 15 have come up - they looked so pitiful I'm not
surprised. Not even the squirrels wanted them.

Freesias - NONE of the 25 have come up - and while a few may have
succumbed to the squirrels, I have been able to dig up the bulbs now, a
month and a half after I planted them in the terrace pots, looking just
as they did when I planted them. But then, I hear that freesias are a
PITA to grow right... I'd just wish they would grow, period!