It happens. You bought bulbs with the intention of getting them in the ground in the fall to enjoy next spring. But life got busy. Suddenly, it’s the holidays, and then you’re making your New Year’s resolutions. Before you know it, spring is nearly here.
And those bulbs are still sitting in the garage, not in your backyard.
Unfortunately, I’m all too familiar with this scenario. Don’t worry, all is not lost. You’ve got options, my friend, but you’ll have to work fast. Read on to find out how to salvage bulbs that should have been planted last fall.
Where did your bulbs spend the winter?
How you stored your bulbs over the winter is the key to what you can do with them now. That’s because bulbs that grow and flower in the spring require a chilling period of many weeks before they will bloom. Depending on the variety, bulbs need anywhere from ten to sixteen weeks of cold winter weather.
Think of it as nature’s alarm clock.
This long chilling period triggers the release of certain chemical compounds within the bulb that allow it to flower when warmer weather arrives. Without that lengthy cold period, the bulb won’t produce blooms—at least not this year.
The bulbs also put down good, strong roots in the fall. This necessary development allows water and nutrients to reach the portion of the plant that grows above ground.
If you stored your bulbs in the fridge, cool garage or shed (40F or less), I’ve got good news. If you work fast, you just might be able to enjoy beautiful blooms this spring. I’ll show you how shortly. First, we have to break the bad news to readers who didn’t store their bulbs in a chilled space.
Ahem, yes. If you didn’t store your bulbs where they would experience a false winter, it’s unlikely you’ll get flowers this spring.
All is not lost, though, and you can salvage your bulbs. (You should, too, as it’s unlikely they will last until fall.)
Regardless of where you stored your bulbs, you’ll need to act quickly in late winter. There’s also an important step you’ll need to be mindful of this summer. As we all know, bulbs can be quite spendy, so we don’t want them to go to waste.
Inspect the Bulbs
The ideal storage environment for bulbs is someplace cold and dry. Moisture quickly leads to rotting bulbs and disease. This is one of the reasons it’s best to leave the papery skins on the bulbs, as they form a layer of protection and help keep the bulbs from getting moldy.
You’ll want to inspect each bulb individually.
Look for any signs of rot (brown spots), mold, or pest damage (mice like to nibble them) and throw those bulbs out. You can toss them on the compost pile. Likewise, bulbs that are completely dried out should be composted as well. They’ve lost too much internal moisture and nutrients to be viable. Bulbs should have a slight heft relevant to their size. If they’re very light, they’re likely dried out.
You may notice some bulbs already sprouting. This is a great sign, even if the sprouts are pale white or yellow. (They’ll green right up in the sun.)
Even if they don’t have sprouts, as long as they aren’t dried out or spoiled, they will likely still bloom. (Provided they were chilled.)
Get Them Rooted
Now that you’ve removed any bad bulbs from the bunch, you need to get them into soil as soon as possible. Remember, regardless of whether they were chilled or not, bulbs need a healthy root system to be able to provide for the plant above ground.
Lucky for us, bulbs put down roots faster than you can say, “Shoot! I forgot to plant my bulbs last fall!”
You essentially have two choices here. You can plant your bulbs directly in the soil when the soil temperature warms, or you can get them growing in pots and transplant them once they’ve gone dormant. Each method has its pros and cons, so let’s cover both.
Planting Directly in the Soil
To plant directly in the soil, you need to wait until the ground warms to around 40F. (You’re going to want one of these guys.) Only then will the bulbs start to put down roots. Plant the bulbs according to the depth recommended on their packaging, root side down and pointy tip up.
If you live in an area that gets extreme winter weather and plant your bulbs early in the spring, it’s a good idea to cover them with a layer of mulch.
The tumultuous spring weather often brings several more freezes and thaws that can cause the soil to shift, pushing the bulbs up out of the ground. Covering them will ensure they stay protected.
Chilled bulbs planted directly in the soil will usually bloom that spring, although they may show up a bit later in the season. You may also end up with some blind bulbs this season. (Meaning they will only put out foliage and no flowers.) It all depends on how much of the bulb’s energy stores were used before being planted.
Planting chilled bulbs in the soil early is the best way to get blooms from bulbs that didn’t get planted in the fall.
Likewise, it’s also the best way to salvage bulbs that weren’t chilled.
Get your bulbs that were stored at room temperature planted in late winter, too. They won’t bloom this year. However, they will produce foliage and, depending on the type of flower, can store nutrients to bloom in future years. (Many hybrid tulip varieties will only bloom for one year.)
Planting in Pots
You can also grow your bulbs in pots with the intention of transplanting them once they go dormant. We aren’t going to be forcing them, which is a common practice to get spring bulbs to bloom in the winter in pots indoors. Instead, we will be growing them in pots for this season, from start to finish.
The upside to growing your forgotten fall bulbs in pots is that you don’t have to wait for the soil to warm up.
You can get them started rooting indoors in late winter and move them outside when the weather warms up a bit. The downside is that, depending on how many bulbs you have, those pots can take up a lot of room.
Again, if your bulbs were stored somewhere cool, it’s likely you’ll end up with some flowers this spring. If your bulbs were stored at room temperature, you’ll be growing blind bulbs this year.
When the foliage naturally begins to die off and the bulbs go dormant, you can remove the bulbs from the pots, trim the roots, and store them somewhere dry and cool to be planted in the ground in the fall.
Provided you don’t forget again. What? We both know why we’re here.
Whether you decide to plant your bulbs in the ground in late winter or start them in pots indoors, there are a couple of things you can do to give these forgotten flowers the best chance of surviving and blooming in future springs.
Of course, all is not lost. You can also get any of these started now, and you’ll still have beautiful blooms this summer.
Give Your Bulbs a Helping Hand
The bulbs you purchased in the fall were grown to have plenty of stored nutrients so they could set roots and bloom the very next spring. Because they sat out for most of the winter, they naturally lost some of those nutrients from the bulb drying out a bit.
You can help out these late bulbs by digging in some bone meal when you plant them, whether that’s digging some into the soil when planting outside or mixing it in the potting medium to grow them in pots. Bone meal provides phosphorous, which is needed for the development of healthy roots.
It’s also a good practice to top-dress them with a layer of compost once they begin to sprout, which will provide nutrients to the growing bulbs.
An Important Tip for This Summer
Because the bulbs lost nutrients, you need to give them the opportunity to store up lots of nutrients this year for future blooms. The best way to do that is to leave the foliage after the bulbs have finished blooming. Or, if you’re growing unchilled bulbs, just let the foliage grow unchecked.
All those leaves are soaking up the sun to store energy and nutrients in the bulb for next year’s blooms. If you cut the foliage back early, you’re ensuring the bulbs won’t have enough energy to bloom.
Leave the foliage until it begins to yellow and die back naturally; then, you can cut it back or mow over it.
An Important Tip If You Forget Your Fall Bulbs Again
In the future, if life gets busy and you find you won’t have time to plant fall bulbs, store them someplace cold and dry as soon as possible.
Putting them in a paper bag in a cool garage or basement is ideal (below 40F). You can also store them in the fridge as a last resort, although it’s harder to keep them dry. I would suggest storing them in mason jars with a desiccant packet if you have to keep them in the fridge.
At least that way, they will still have the proper chilling time, and you’ll have a better chance of enjoying blooms next spring. If you want to ensure you have beautiful spring flowers, take a few moments to read 6 Bulb Planting Mistakes That Will Spoil Your Spring Blooms.
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