Just planted out some hyacinth bulbs, only been out just over a week and look like they are about to flower,apparently you only get about three weeks of flowering then its time to deadhead them ready for next year,after deadheading would it be ok to lift them and store them somewhere ready for next year or is there much chance of them flowering again (didnt realise you only get about three weeks of flowering) as where they are i could do with something that will flower most of the summer.......any advice appreciated.

On 4/1/2011 4:54 PM, rabc wrote:
Just planted out some hyacinth bulbs, only been out just over a week and
look like they are about to flower,apparently you only get about three
weeks of flowering then its time to deadhead them ready for next
year,after deadheading would it be ok to lift them and store them
somewhere ready for next year or is there much chance of them flowering
again (didnt realise you only get about three weeks of flowering) as
where they are i could do with something that will flower most of the
summer.......any advice appreciated.


Bulbs which are lifted and stored immediately after they bloom are not
likely to be worth replanting. The bulbs need time in the ground after they
bloom to 'recharge' for next year. In some cases (where labor is not a
concern) I've heard of people relocating bulbs after they bloom to some
out-of-the-way location until they go dormant but most people don't have a
garden staff and just can't do that much work themselves. For everyone else
the key seems to be planting something else among and in front of the
daffodils (and tulips and crocuses and hyacinths and bluebells, etc) to
screen them while they are flowerless and eventually go through an ugly
stage of browning and going dormant. I've seen some attractive plantings
where spring bulbs were interplanted in beds of hemerocallis which come up
rapidly while the bulbs are fading and eventually camouflage them put on
their own show for the rest of the Summer.

On Apr 1, 4:54*pm, rabc wrote:
Just planted out some hyacinth bulbs, only been out just over a week and
look like they are about to flower,apparently you only get about three
weeks of flowering then its time to deadhead them ready for next
year,after deadheading would it be ok to lift them and store them
somewhere ready for next year or is there much chance of them flowering
again (didnt realise you only get about three weeks of flowering) as
where they are i could do with something that will flower most of the
summer.......any advice appreciated.

--
rabc

unless you live in the coldest spots of siberia or alaska, you need to
just leave the hyacinths in the ground, WITHOUT DISTURBING them in ANY
WAY... and that includes 'dead heading' them. that phrase usually is
describing flowering annuals, such as marigolds, snapdragons, etc., as
well as SOME perennials like Centaurea or Malva zebrina, lilies,
etc.
on the other hand, i have NEVER heard of dead-heading a bulb,
corm, etc.
what you need to do with hyacinths, Narcissus (daffies),
Fritallaria, etc., is to give them their 'space' and don't even think
of cutting the plant to the ground UNTIL the greenery is completely
brown and feels like melted shrooms.