Garden Detective

What do you get when you cross a tulip bulb and a light bulb?
A power plant.

Lots of folks refer to any underground structure that isn’t a fibrous or conical root system as a “bulb.” But in actuality, bulbs are very specific things, and shouldn’t be confused with rhizomes, corms or tubers. (We’ll talk about them another time.)

Amaryllis, daffodils, hyacinths, lilies, tulips, snowdrops, and ornamental onions all are true bulbs.

When shopping for bulbs, avoid any that appear moldy, are mushy or seem otherwise rotted. Loose skins aren’t a problem.

Spring-flowering bulbs need to spend a certain amount of time under chilly ground (below 60 degrees) in order to bloom. On Long Island, in Zone 7, the ideal planting time is around the beginning of November, but you can continue to plant bulbs until the ground freezes.

Bulbs serve as plants’ food storage system, providing nourishment throughout the dormant seasons(s) to ensure future showings. They come in varied sizes and have varied depth requirements, usually 2 inches to 6 or 8 inches deep. If you’ve purchased your bulbs, check the packaging for planting instructions; If you’ve inherited them or if for some other reason they didn’t come with directions, you really can’t go wrong planting any bulb at about 4 inches. Some will cry heresy, but it works. I’ve done it.

If you’re planning an entire bulb bed, dig up 4 inches of soil across the board, place your bulbs where you want them, and cover the whole thing up. If you’re adding bulbs to an existing bed, you should dig each hole individually to an appropriate depth and plant them one by one. Drop the bulb in the hole, pointy side up, and cover with soil. An ordinary trowel can be used for this task, but several different types of bulb planters are available to simplify the process.

Fiskars makes a bulb transplanter that’s marked with depth graduations and has a spring-loaded handle to release packed soil.

The Hound Dog Bulb Hound goes a bit easier on your back, as it has a long handle to reduce stooping.

For a higher-tech approach, there are bulb augers, like this one from Protech Tool Supply, that attach to power drills. Might be a good idea if you’re planting hundreds of bulbs at once.

I’m partial to a dibble, like the one made by Rumford Gardener (View image). You just poke it in the ground to the depth line marked on the spike, twist it around a bit to widen the hole and you’re done.

To discourage squirrels, rabbits, moles and other bulb-hoarding critters from making a winter meal of your spring garden, add a handful of crushed oyster shells to the hole when planting bulbs. The pests find the texture of the shells irritating and will keep away, plus you get the added bonus of nutrients leeching from the shells and nourishing your bulbs.

There are three basic planting techniques for bulbs:

Layering means planting one bulb directly on top of another. For instance, a tulip or daffodil bulb can be planted at 6 inches, partially covered with soil, and an earlier flowering bulb like a crocus, can be added right on top of it. The crocus will surface and bloom first, and the tulip or daffodil will follow, providing a longer season of color from the exact same spot.

Naturalizing is by far the most fun planting method, but it’s not for everyone. It involves putting your bulbs in a bag (or in a closed fist,) tossing them in the air and planting them where they land. It’s more pleasurable if you close your eyes and spin around first, but of course this isn’t mandatory.

The third method, to which I’m partial, involves planting bulbs in order of their appearances – early arrivals in the rear, late bloomers up front. This way, spent blooms and foliage are hidden behind the newer entries. As long as leaves are green, they’re busy producing food for next year’s flowers. For this reason, it’s important to leave them in place until they’ve completely yellowed and withered.

I know someone who painstakingly rolls down each tulip stem and secures it with a twist tie to avoid an unsightly mess in his garden. Why bother, when you can leave it be and hide it behind a later-arriving perennial?

Regardless of the method, remember to water after planting, and then regularly when buds appear in the spring.

Do you have any favorite bulbs or bulb-planting shortcuts? Let me know.