Guest Author - Kimberly Cassandra Cannon
The feeling of anticipation while waiting for spring to come can be overwhelming. What can be even more overwhelming is the anxiety release in anticipation of those darling spring bulbs; especially, for me an avid gardener in the south.
It is with much anticipation I look eagerly once, twice, maybe several times a week, for a peep of what is to come. Nevertheless, I must wait but until then, fellow gardeners take a moment to jot down these ideas in your gardening journal on what to do once the spring display begins.
Not too much longer, spring bulbs will be making your landscape the talk of the neighborhood and it will most surely happen before you know it. How often we look for any sign of green, but it is in the deep of darkness, the bulb elves work overnight to push tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses toward the sky. We welcome them with great delight.
These tips are specifically for the warm climate gardener:
1) Resist purchasing bulbs on clearance. I know, I know what you may be thinking but here is the reason. Because of a chilling requirement needed for spring bulbs in this part of the country, purchasing bulbs now will be to no avail.
No, they cannot be stored until the winter.
No, they cannot be planted anyway. You would be wasting precious gardening energy to do such. Instead, save the money to use elsewhere for the garden, weed your beds (they'll love you for it) or be sure to water if no rain has been supplied in the last several days. Point to be made: the latest spring bulbs can be planted in a flower bed (in Zones 8-9) is mid-January.
2) Once shoots appear above the surface, this is a good time to repeat fertilization. (However, it is not necessary to fertilize again if fertilizer was used during planting time).
3) Warm climate gardeners need not worry about hideous bulb foliage once the bulb has completed its blooming stage. Once the bulb has completed flowering, it is then time to discard any remains. Spring bulbs in the warmer climates are treated as annuals although, in some parts more northern, daffodils and alliums sometimes return the following season.
Once the show is over, there is no “ugly” period to endure. Now is the time to plant summer annuals to quickly fill in any gaps to insure season long blooms for the remainder of the year.
3) Although mulching has many benefits in serving our flower beds, once shoots start appearing, pull the mulch back slightly to initiate faster, flowering in the spring. Allow the heat of the spring sun to warm the soil. Be sure to remove winter mulch only after a hard frost as occurred (a signal is once the ground starts to thaw).
Additionally, once bulb shoots appear, watering is essential, especially, if the soil is dry. (Please no shallow watering). A little water here and there will never benefit your bulb garden neither the garden in general.
Hopefully, these tips taken will ensure you of small nuggets of useful information as you learn how to care for your bulb garden.
