Fritillaria bulbs, still not planted aaagh!
 

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in
message ...
On Wed, 18 Dec 2002 21:55:27 +0000 (UTC), Lynda Thornton
wrote:

We've had some cold frosty nights here recently and I wanted to know
whether if I plant my fritillaria bulbs (in soil now, I've given up
trying to put them under the lawn) will they die from cold shock? I
know they flower very early, but they might not like being planted now?

[Presuming that you are referring to Fritillaria meleagris]

Pot them in sand, water *once*, and park the pot somewhere
sheltered from the wind and rain. The bulbs are quite weak now
from being out of the ground too long, and if you put them into
soil many of them may rot. In sand, they have a better chance of
plumping up and coming to life.

If all goes well and they send up leaves in the spring, then feed
them with a *weak* liquid fertilizer a few times -- about 1/4 as
strong as normal. This will help them build up strength; sand
isn't an awfully nutritious growing medium by itself.

When the foliage yellows and dies down (June?), tip out the
contents of the pot and plant out the resuscitated bulbs then and
there.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

I agree with the above, I always do mine in potting compost rather than
sand, but I barely any water, then the pots go under the greenhouse bench
and are planted out growing in the spring. experiance with these bulbs is
that it is a waste of time planting direct after buying. so you haven't lost
too much by delaying!

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

Fritillaria bulbs, still not planted aaagh!
 

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in
message ...
: On Wed, 18 Dec 2002 21:55:27 +0000 (UTC), Lynda Thornton
: wrote:
:
: We've had some cold frosty nights here recently and I wanted to know
: whether if I plant my fritillaria bulbs (in soil now, I've given up
: trying to put them under the lawn) will they die from cold shock? I
: know they flower very early, but they might not like being planted now?
:
: [Presuming that you are referring to Fritillaria meleagris]
:
: Pot them in sand, water *once*, and park the pot somewhere
: sheltered from the wind and rain. The bulbs are quite weak now
: from being out of the ground too long, and if you put them into
: soil many of them may rot. In sand, they have a better chance of
: plumping up and coming to life.
:
: If all goes well and they send up leaves in the spring, then feed
: them with a *weak* liquid fertilizer a few times -- about 1/4 as
: strong as normal. This will help them build up strength; sand
: isn't an awfully nutritious growing medium by itself.
:
: When the foliage yellows and dies down (June?), tip out the
: contents of the pot and plant out the resuscitated bulbs then and
: there.
:
:
: --
: Rodger Whitlock
: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Does this apply to other bulbs/corms? I have some tulips - which I gather
will be OK as they are late planters anyway. The others I have are anemone
de caen and dwarf lilies.

K

Fritillaria bulbs, still not planted aaagh!
 

On Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:33:57 -0000, "K"
wrote:

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in
message ...

: Pot them in sand, water *once*, and park the pot somewhere
: sheltered from the wind and rain. The bulbs are quite weak now
: from being out of the ground too long, and if you put them into
: soil many of them may rot. In sand, they have a better chance of
: plumping up and coming to life.
:
: If all goes well and they send up leaves in the spring, then feed
: them with a *weak* liquid fertilizer a few times -- about 1/4 as
: strong as normal. This will help them build up strength; sand
: isn't an awfully nutritious growing medium by itself.
:
: When the foliage yellows and dies down (June?), tip out the
: contents of the pot and plant out the resuscitated bulbs then and
: there.

Does this apply to other bulbs/corms? I have some tulips - which I gather
will be OK as they are late planters anyway. The others I have are anemone
de caen and dwarf lilies.

The method is one I learned (iirc) from one of E B Anderson's
books. I used to have plunge frames for my terra cotta seed pots
and would put weak and excessively desiccated bulbs directly into
the sand plunge; a surprising number eventually revived. To this
day I will pot up weak, flabby bulbs in sand for a season. Of
course, you can not expect 100% success, but it seems a better
course of action than planting them out directly in the garden.

The advantage of sand over soil is that it is more or less free
of pathogens: molds, fungi, bacteria, etc. And being inorganic
won't become infected with these during the winter.

As you already know, tulips can be planted quite late. They can
take quite a lot of drying off, as can many narcissus. But
Fritillaria meleagris, Leucojum vernuum, Anemone nemorosa,
lilies, and Eranthis hyemalis (to name a few examples) detest the
usually drying off given to bulbs. It is perhaps better to give
all such as these the treatment I described.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Fritillaria bulbs, still not planted aaagh!
 

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in
message ...
: On Thu, 19 Dec 2002 10:33:57 -0000, "K"
: wrote:
:
:: Does this apply to other bulbs/corms? I have some tulips - which I
gather
: will be OK as they are late planters anyway. The others I have are
anemone
: de caen and dwarf lilies.
:
: The method is one I learned (iirc) from one of E B Anderson's
: books. I used to have plunge frames for my terra cotta seed pots
: and would put weak and excessively desiccated bulbs directly into
: the sand plunge; a surprising number eventually revived. To this
: day I will pot up weak, flabby bulbs in sand for a season. Of
: course, you can not expect 100% success, but it seems a better
: course of action than planting them out directly in the garden.
:
: The advantage of sand over soil is that it is more or less free
: of pathogens: molds, fungi, bacteria, etc. And being inorganic
: won't become infected with these during the winter.
:
: As you already know, tulips can be planted quite late. They can
: take quite a lot of drying off, as can many narcissus. But
: Fritillaria meleagris, Leucojum vernuum, Anemone nemorosa,
: lilies, and Eranthis hyemalis (to name a few examples) detest the
: usually drying off given to bulbs. It is perhaps better to give
: all such as these the treatment I described.
:
:
: --
: Rodger Whitlock
: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Thanks, Roger, I'll give it a go, hopefully before Christmas. Nothing
ventured ...... as they say.

K