By Michael J. McGroarty
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Flower bulbs need a good, long, winter’s sleep. Like some peoplewe know, if they wake up before they are fully rested they getkind of cranky, and then they don’t bloom well at all.
Actually what happens is during a mild winter, the soil staystoo warm and the bulbs begin to come out of dormancy early. Theystart to grow, and once the tips emerge above the soil line,they are subject to freezing if the temperatures dip back downbelow freezing. And that’s usually what happens. After the bulbshave emerged, they freeze and then don’t bloom at all, or ifthey do it’s a very sad display.
Another reason this happens is because the bulbs are not planteddeep enough. They may have been deep enough when you plantedthem, but as the soil goes through the freezing and thawingprocess, the bulbs can actually work their way up in the ground.One way to keep your flower bulbs sleeping longer, which willprotect them from freezing, is to mulch the bed.
In the fall just apply a 3-4” layer of well composted mulch.This layer of mulch will do a couple of things. It will maintaina higher moisture content in the soil, which is good as long asthe soil isn’t too soggy. Well composted mulch also addsvaluable organic matter to the planting bed. Organic mattermakes a great natural fertilizer.
A 3-4” layer of mulch also acts as an insulator. It will keepthe soil from freezing for a while, which is good because youdon’t want the bulbs going through a series of short cycles offreezing and thawing. Then when the temperatures drop belowfreezing and stay there for a while, the soil does eventuallyfreeze. Then the mulch actually works in reverse and keeps thesoil from thawing out too early. Keeping it in a frozen state isactually good because the bulbs remain dormant for a longerperiod of time.
When they finally do wake up it is spring time, and hopefullyby the time they emerge from the ground the danger of a hardfreeze is past and they will not be damaged. If you can keepthem from freezing, they will flower beautifully. The extraorganic matter will help to nourish the bulbs when they are doneblooming, and the cycle starts all over again.
We also plant annual flowers in the same beds with our springbulbs. By the time the danger of frost is past and it’s time toplant the annuals, the top of the bulbs have died back and areready to be removed. The mulch that is added in the fall alsohelps to nourish the annual flowers, as well as improve the soilpermanently. Any time you add well composted organic matter toyour planting beds, you are bound to realize multiple benefits.The key words here are “well composted”. Fresh material is notgood.
Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit hismost interesting website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign upfor his excellent gardening newsletter. Article provided byhttp://gardening-articles.com
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