Fall and early winter are the best times to plant bulbs. Right now, garden centers and online suppliers have great selections available. So, if you are wanting to plant something that will magically pop up in the spring with beautiful flowers, now is the time to get your bulb shopping done since available colors and varieties tend to diminish as the season progresses. So, here’s what you need to know.

While now is the time to get your bulbs, it’s not quite time to plant them yet. Bulbs can go in the ground when the soil temperatures are in the 50s. As I write this article, our soil temps are in the mid 60’s so we’re getting there, but not quite ready yet. You are probably yourself “how am I supposed to know the soil temperature.” You have a couple of options. Soil temperature gauges are available and are not expensive, or if you want to do what most of us do, you can look at the Mesonet. And now you may be asking yourself “what the heck is the Mesonet?”

The Mesonet is a joint project between OSU and OU to provide in-depth weather information throughout the state. Each county has Mesonet stations, and each station provides you with a wealth of weather information. There’s information on air temperature, rainfall accumulations, soil temperatures at various depths, and a variety of other great stats. If you are a serious gardener or just a curious person, you should make the Mesonet your friend. You can find the Mesonet at www.mesonet.org.

Now when you are shopping for bulbs, one thing to consider is bloom time since different bulbs bloom at different times. First, we have early bloomers like hyacinth, crocus, and some tulips. Next up would be the mid-bloomers like tulips and daffodils. And last but not least there are the late bloomers like iris, allium, bluebells, and the remaining tulip varieties. Why mix them up? Unfortunately, the flowers on these plants don’t last very long, so by mixing up bloom times, you are staging your garden to have colorful blooms for a longer period of time.

Next, you need to decide where to plant your bulbs. Some of you are probably saying you should figure that out first and if that is you, congratulations. But in reality, that’s not really how most gardener’s brains work: we find something we like and then we figure out where to plant it. For example, I went to the garden center recently to purchase a particular shrub but came home with four different shrubs and I bet I find them a good home.

Now back to finding the spot to plant your bulbs. Bulbs do best in well-drained soil because wet soil contributes to causing your bulbs to rot before they ever get a chance to bloom. If your soil has a high clay content, you’ll probably want to get some organic matter like compost or composted manure and mix that into the top 12 inches of the soil. Shade or sun is not usually a concern because bulbs tend to bloom before most of the trees leaf out in the spring.

Appropriate phosphorus levels in your soil is important to bulbs. It’s best to know your soil nutrient levels by getting a soil test which we talked about last Saturday, but if you don’t know or don’t have time to do that, plan on adding a little bonemeal to the soil before planting since bonemeal is about 12% phosphorus. In the spring, when you see the leaves start to break through the soil, you can give them a little 10-10-10 to give them a little boost, but do not fertilize after they start blooming.

When planting, remember that the size of the bulb determines how deep you plant them. As a rule, plant your bulbs at a depth of about two to three times the vertical size of the bulb. And be sure to plant them with the larger end down.

Gophers can be a problem, so if you’ve had trouble with gophers in your yard, you might want to consider some preventative measures. To discourage gophers, dig a small trench for your bulbs rather than individual holes. Line the bottom of the trench with something like chicken wire and place your bulbs on top of the chicken wire, cover them with a little soil and then cover with another layer of chicken water and then fully cover to soil level. Hopefully this will be enough to discourage them from dining on your bulbs, but we never know.

After planting, water them in and cover with your favorite mulch. If you are planting early blooming bulbs, don’t cover them with mulch since the mulch could delay spring soil warming which in turn will delay their bloom time.

In the spring once your blooms have disappeared, don’t cut the green foliage down since it is helping the bulb store energy for next year’s growth. After the green leaves turn brown, you can cut them back. From this point until next spring your bulbs will be dormant.

People who are serious about their bulbs often dig them up after blooming and either store the bulbs or throw them away. I tend to just leave mine in the ground and see which ones come back. Some may bloom every other year, and some may just disappear, but I like to give them a chance to live their best life. See you in the garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo courtesy Tom Ingram.