Planting Spring Blooming Bulbs Around the Greenhouse
If you live in the New York City area and feel you’ve run out of time to plant all those spring-blooming bulbs after yesterday’s snow storm, don’t worry - temperatures are expected to be in the 40s this weekend. You can still get them in the ground.
As many of you know, every autumn we plant thousands and thousands of bulbs at my farm. It’s so exciting to see the swaths of color in the garden beds after a cold, dreary winter. Over the last couple of weeks, the outdoor grounds crew carefully planted bulbs around my main greenhouse. Different planting methods were used depending on the area and the amount of bulbs selected for the space. This year, some of our sources include Van Engelen Inc., and Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs - two great bulb companies in Connecticut. They will all look so marvelous come spring.
Here are some photos... and happy planting!
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- This year we’re planting 23-thousand bulbs around the farm. They arrive in sacs, bags, and boxes depending on the transport needs of the bulbs. We store them in my gym garage where it is cool and dark until they are ready to plant.
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- Almost every garden bed is planted with new bulbs each fall. This year, we also decided to plant some outside my main greenhouse in front of the currant bushes and around the new row of boxwood. Dawa secures garden twine as a guide. In this area – Spanish bluebells, muscari and crocus.
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- Ryan places groups of bulbs strategically behind the boxwood but not beyond the twine. When planting several types, it is important to consider flower height and time of bloom.
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- These bulbs are Spanish bluebells, a shade-tolerant plant that bears spikes of lightly fragrant, porcelain blue, bell-shaped flowers.
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- Some bulbs are small and easier to plant. Every bulb needs food and good soil to thrive and multiply.
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- Always be sure to add the the proper bulb food to the bed. It should be a balanced fertilizer that has a good amount of phosphorous. Fertilizing spring blooming bulbs also helps them fight off diseases and pests.
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- This tool is a dibber, used to create a narrow deep hole for smaller bulbs.
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- Phurba starts to plant the bulbs one by one where they were positioned. Unfortunately, this day was quite rainy, so the crew had to work quickly and efficiently.
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- Each bulb is placed in a hole about three to five inches deep, always pointed end or sprouted end faced up.
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- Crocus bulbs are smaller. It is very easy to see which end should be faced up on these bulbs.
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- Some of the bulbs are tossed gently onto the soil – where they fall is where they will be planted, creating a natural growth appearance.
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- Once the area is filled with bulbs, they’re covered with earth and fresh compost.
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- Phurba and Dawa then move to a patch not far from the greenhouse to plant a new bed of daffodils. Using the pole bulb planter, Phurba makes a series of holes for the hundreds of daffodils planned for the space.
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- There are several different tools used for planting bulbs depending on the size of the bulb. This is a traditional bulb planter. In general, holes should be three times deeper than the bulb’s length.
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- Each of these daffodil bulbs is planted in a hole at least six-inches deep.
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- And one by one, each bulb is carefully placed into a hole – again with the pointed end faced up, or root end faced down. This is very important, so the plant grows properly from the bulb.
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- There are no existing bulbs in this area, so the crew doesn’t have to look out for them as they dig. When planting in a bed that already has bulbs, be sure not to damage them with the planting tools. Daffodils should be placed at least four-inches apart.
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- Ryan adds more bulbs in front of the hornbeam hedges that line one side of the parking lot in front of the main greenhouse. These are scilla bulbs, or blue squill. Scillas grow in sun or shade beneath light trees, under hedges, or in a wild garden along a walk. They should be planted three-inches deep and three-inches apart.
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- Phurba planted the entire area with the scilla – it will look so pretty underneath these sculpted hornbeams.
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- And finally, the crew moved to the back of my greenhouse by the gooseberry bushes to plant more Spanish bluebells and crocus.
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- Hyacinthoides hispanica, the Spanish bluebell, is a perennial native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is one of around 11-species in the genus Hyacinthoides.
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- You can plant bulbs just about anywhere in the garden as long as the soil drains well. “Bulbs don’t like wet feet”, so be sure to avoid areas where water collects.
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- This bed was planted quickly and then backfilled and raked. I can’t wait to see all these bulbs erupt with gorgeous color come spring. What bulbs are you planting this season? Please let me know in the comments section below.
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