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Plant Bulbs now to light up your garden

Posted on October 4th, 2009

Well this time of year is a very busy and probably important time in the gardening calender, I refer of course to planting spring flowering bulbs. Some tips about bulbs:

Best to buy good firm healthy bulbs (free of any blemishes), avoid if possible the bulk discounted packs, as I’ve found many do not flower very well or tend to be be weak and do not repeat in subsequent seasons.

Ideally plant bulbs as soon as possible after purchase, if you need to store them, remove from plastic sales packaging and placed them on an open tray or in pots in a dry cool and dark environment. 

Prepare the ground ensuring that the soil is relatively free draining soil conditions, if soil is heavy, add some grit, as persistent damp areas will undermine performance and/or rot bulbs. Add some compost and coarse grit. Make sure to plant bulbs at correct depth and point or ‘toe’ facing upwards. Planting depths will vary, but usually at least x 3 times the equivalent of bulb size.

After flowering period do not cut or remove foliage too soon, allow to go brown as during this period the foilage is building energy resources for next year’s flowering. For example, a common problem with poor flowering of Daffodils is that the foliage is cut back too soon after flowering with the result that the following year’s performance is very poor due to the bulb having insufficient food resources to permit flowering.  Some of the more popular bulb varieties would include Daffodils, Narcissi, Hyacinths and Tulips etc     

For more useful information and practical advice about planting bulbs, see some previous Sunblogs/articles:

http://www.owenchubblandscapers.com/news/entry/on-the-edge-adding-glamour/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Planting-Bulbs-For-Colour&id=1818856

http://ezinearticles.com/?Planting-Spring-Flowering-Garden-Bulbs&id=1768253  

http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/planting-garden-bulbs-675335.html