Guest Author - Kimberly Cassandra Cannon

This is part two: gardening with spring bulbs in a warmer climate. A climate that rarely sees snow. Warm climate gardeners will never see a white Christmas and if so, it will be a three-second flurry of white puff yet they challenge themselves with creating what is known as a spring garden with bulbs.

Unbelievably, there is a way to use bulbs in your spring garden despite the warmer weather. You just have to know how to do it. So grab a journal and take some final notes on how to do warm climate bulb gardening.

My space:
Allocate a space in the yard where there is plenty of direct sunlight. This is necessary for bulb productivity. Most bulbs will tolerate a partial shade setting but will flourish when grown in a sunnier disposition with neutral to slightly acidic soil since they are most prone to fungus and mildew problems.

Be sure to side dress (meaning giving an extra boost of fertilizer) the soil with compost and peat moss for continuing nutrient intake and good drainage throughout the cooler months ahead. Most soils, especially in the warmer climates take a toll during the heat of summer that depletes the soil. Therefore, an enriched soil is the best prep you can give your new plants and bulbs.

However, if you have an already established bulb bed or border, simply side-dress with an application of bone meal and cultivate into soil for a spring wake up and nourishing meal. Be sure after prepping the soil through amending and application of slow release fertilizer, to integrate everything together (note: never plant directly into a soil amendment or garden soil) before planting.

Since, fall is the best time of year to give an established garden a face-lift, simply top-dress (the process of adding a fine layer of quality soil over garden bed or lawn) established gardens for planting new things into your garden beds.

Timing is crucial:
Spring bulbs require a cool dormant period of at least 8-12 weeks before production begins. Warm climates can vary due to temperature fluctuations amongst other climatic issues. Therefore, give at least a period of 6-8 weeks in a pre-chilled method for spring bulbs in this part of the country, (Zone 8 and up) to gain good root development before the ground freezes.

As far as timing is concerned, the warmer your climate, the later you may plant spring bulbs. For example, those in Zone 8 could wait until at least the first week of January to plant their spring bulbs but only after, pre-chilling for at least 8 weeks. Bulbs can be planted as long as the ground is not frozen.

The term pre-chill simply means giving a required chill period to the bulbs in question. Certain bulbs, in order to be grown in warmer climates, will require a pre-chilling method. This method can be done by placing only those bulbs that require chilling (more on that later) into either a plastic bag with holes or a paper bag. Place the bag inside of a veggie drawer in your refrigerator with no fruit or veggies around it. Reason being, ethylene gas, which is a natural plant hormone that is odorless, colorless and tasteless, releases during the ripening stage in fruits and vegetables; thereby, causing the embryonic flower inside of the bulbs to either abort or not fully form.

Depth of planting bulbs:
As far as planting depth, the general rule is to plant at a depth equal to three times its diameter. Therefore, if a bulb is 2 inches in diameter, plant at least 6 inches. Larger bulbs planted at least 4-6 inches in spacing and smaller bulbs 3-4 inches in spacing. Why is planting depth so important? To protect the bulbs from the elements of heat exposure, too much moisture and the high end of your worries, squirrels.

Although pre-chilling is a method warm climate gardeners will have to adjust to, not all hope is lost. There is also availability for bulbs already pre-chilled. Check with a nursery nearby. Here is more great news. Not all bulbs will require pre-chilling and here are a few: alliums, gloriosa lily, all paper whites, snowflake, spider lily and watsonia.

It is not easy to have a display of spring color, although bulb gardening in warmer climates have alternatives ways. I hope that this article will inspire you not to give up just yet, as you are surrounded in lush, tropical foliage 90% of the year. As an incentive, here are some providers that also, cater to this particular zone of warmth, with unique and rare bulbs not found at nearby retailers. They are Brent and Becky’s bulbs, Easy to grow bulbs.com and my favorite, The Southern Bulb Co.

Once the thrill is gone, display has come on stage and given a show to remember, through all the challenges, and efforts put forth, then come the finale. All to do at this point is to pull them out and discard.

Bulbs in this climate are treated as annuals so discard them and prepare for next spring seasons’ garden. By thinking out of the box in ways to display what seems challenging, will provide a sense of gratification that you met head on in finding yet another way and reason to work in the garden and bulbs made it all possible.