Do you remember last spring when the daffodils and tulips made you smile? I do! I remember thinking I need to plant more of these bulbs, because they made me so happy and excited for summer. Today, we planted tulips around a tree in our front yard.
Bulbs are an easy perennial to plant and maintain. Considering their size, bulbs are much easier for my girls to handle and plant than many vegetables. For the most part, you can’t lose them or plant them wrong. My simple instructions and words of caution for the girls before planting were:
- Dig a hole. Watch where you are digging, and be careful not to get your sisters’ fingers or toes with the shovel.
- Call mom over. I intervened and added blood meal (before her sister’s blood could be added!) to the bottom of each hole. Blood meal is a dry, inert powder made from animal blood. Morbid, I know! However, it’s been used by gardeners for centuries as a source of nitrogen. The soil analysis that I took a couple of weeks ago showed that nitrogen levels are low and phosphorus and potassium levels are plentiful. Blood meal is an excellent source of nitrogen when phosphorus and potassium are not needed.
- Drop the bulb in the hole. Put the flat point at the bottom of the hole, tip pointing up. No, you cannot eat them!
- Cover the bulb with soil. Don’t throw clods of dirt at each other and stay focused.
Planting was successful – no one got hurt, and I only had to yell at them once. There are literally hundreds of bulbs to choose from. Go shopping, get digging, and enjoy a spring full of colorful flowers.
Hi, I work at feedyard and came across the magazine and seen your story inside. Then i looked you up and find your blog…i’m not a blogger but i like to read them. Just the other day I was wondering if it was late to plant bulbs. When i opened to read your blog I noticed that you blogged back in Oct. 2011 about tulips…so now i’m guessing i’m late in planting bulbs…what do you say?
Eva, Thanks for looking us up! Hope you will become a follower of this blog too. This is not the best time to plant bulbs, however, they should be planted as soon as possible, as long as the ground is not frozen. They have a better chance blooming if they are in the ground and not in the garage 😉 They need time to root and establish themselves, so the sooner the better. They are not like seeds, you cannot save them, so you might as well plant them. Happy Gardening! Dee