can we save our fall bulbs for the spring?

Question

myself and my wife bought some fall bulbs,tulips,daffadils,iris ect.we have not had the time to put them in the ground.we have got our first frost of year already.can we save them and how till this spring.thanks

Answer 1

It is really hard to keep fall bulbs over the winter and plant in the spring. They usually either dry out or mold. If you can get them in the ground at all, they need a cold winter to bloom. You can plant them anytime, even into January if you can get a shovel into the ground. They will bloom late if you plant them that late, but they will bloom. If you plant them in the spring, they might not bloom at all until the following year. If you have no other option (are you in the middle of that ferocious storm in the east?) you can keep them in the refrigerator until spring, and with being in cold storage, they should bloom when you plant them. (that is also what you do to force bulbs to bloom early). However, if you do that, remember that ripening apples and other fruit put off an ethane gas that will kill flower buds in tulips and other bulbs, so be careful not to put fruit in there with them.

Answer 2

It isn't clear whether your reason for not planting is because the ground has frozen solid and is too hard to work until spring (you don't say where you are), or because you feel they cannot be planted once the frost has hit because of an arbitrary prohibition.

First of all, so long as you are not so far north that the ground freezes hard and cannot be worked after the first frosts arrive, and so long as the ground can be turned, you can still plant your bulbs now, regardless of the fact the first frost has already hit.

As a matter of fact, although it is theoretically possible to overwinter the bulbs in a cool, dry and dark place (say, a paper bag in the fridge or cold cellar), you increase the odds that the bulbs will gradually deteriorate (shrivel, become mildewed and diseased, etc.) to the point where, when you *do* plant them in spring, you will have a high mortality rate due to reduced vigor.

Ironically, the bulbs actually need the cold of winter in the ground to initiate the chemical changes which lead to vigorous regrowth and establishment in the spring. Planting them now, even though it is a tad late, is a better choice than waiting until spring.

On the other hand, if your winter is so severe that the ground is already frozen and unworkable (which strikes me as unlikely, because such climates are not friendly to many commercial bulbs anyways), then consider forcing the bulbs indoors in pots on the window sill after about 6 weeks in the fridge.

Answer 3

bypass away as many leaves on the plant or you,ll get no plant existence for the subsequent 365 days. basically decrease the considerable stem with the flower on and bypass away something to bypass brown and dye back certainly so the goodness is going back into the bulb.

Answer 4

Keep them in a cool,dry dark area (away from mice) in a paper bag with some sawdust if you can get it.

Answer 5

yep, plant them after the thaw