Planting Daffodil Bulbs at the Farm
It’s time to start planting all those spring-blooming bulbs!
Every autumn here at my Bedford, New York farm, we plant thousands and thousands of bulbs. This year, I decided to fill an area behind one side of my Linden Allee with daffodils, extending my long border of these beautiful spring-blooming flowers. Many of this season’s bulbs are from Colorblends Flower Bulbs - a third-generation wholesale flower merchant in nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut. Planting these bulbs can be a very labor-intensive task, but I love this process. I always find it exciting to plant bulbs in the fall that you won't see for many months to come - it's such a wonderful surprise of color when they bloom in spring.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
-
- I decided this area would be perfect for planting masses of colorful, spring-blooming daffodils. It is located along one side of my farm at the end of my already well-established daffodil border.
-
- First, we need to prepare the bed with the proper bulb food. Using a large scoop, Gavin generously amends the soil with bone meal.
-
- Bone meal fertilizer is a meal or powder made from ground-up animal bones. It is used to increase phosphorus in the garden, which is essential for plants to flower.
-
- As Gavin sprinkles bone meal from one end, Ryan feeds the bed from the other end with Bulb Tone, specifically made for spring and fall blooming bulbs.
-
- The Espoma Bulb-Tone Plant Food is a blend of natural and organic ingredients and is recommended for all bulbs, such as crocus, daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips.
-
- The next step is to rototill the area. Rototilling is one method of turning up the soil before planting the garden. Pete uses a Barreto rototiller, which is designed to break up the hard, compact soil into loose, broken-up dirt that can then be used for planting.
-
- Pete starts tilling the beds on one side of the garden and goes up and down the bed, overlapping as he goes. The machine is set to till the soil at about six to eight inches deep.
-
- On some tillers, the speed of the rotating tines helps determine the speed of the machine. This takes a bit of time but is well worth the effort.
-
- Meanwhile, Ryan and Gavin get all the bulbs. Bulbs should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place until they are planted. We store these in my gym building garden library.
-
- Ryan and Gavin transport the crates of bulbs to the planting area. I usually order my bulbs in batches of 20, 50, 100, 500, and a thousand – it’s always so exciting to see them arrive. We will plant at least three thousand bulbs in this bed.
-
- Always plant with the pointed end face up. If it is planted upside down, the flower will still grow, but it will likely take longer.
-
- In this bed, we are using a method that would allow me to plant lots of bulbs neatly and quickly. The bed is set a little lower than the surrounding soil, so Ryan and Gavin place all the bulbs down first. The entire space will then be covered in six to eight inches of soil and compost.
-
- These are medium-sized bulbs, which are spaced about six-inches from one another on all sides.
-
- Ryan and Gavin place each bulb securely in the soil, so they don’t move when covered with more soil and compost.
-
- Each bag of bulbs is placed in the area where it will be planted. When planting a variety of flowers, always consider the size of the flower when in bloom – smaller flowers in the front, and taller ones in the back.
-
- This process also takes quite some time.
-
- One by one, each bulb is carefully put in position, with the pointed end face up, or root-end face down.
-
- After each large section of the daffodil bed is laid out, well-mixed compost is brought in from the composting area of the farm. Phurba drops a load of earth and compost over the bulbs.
-
- And Ryan and Gavin spread it evenly over the bed, being very careful not to disturb the positioning of any bulbs.
-
- Here, almost half of the area is covered in a thick layer of soil and compost.
-
- But there is still lots more to do. Ryan and Gavin continue to put down bulbs as Phurba works to fill the bed with soil and compost.
-
- Among those we planted include ‘Acropolis,’ -glistening white flowers with orange-red segments in the center. They are carried well above the foliage for easy viewing and look lovely in the garden and in a vase. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- ‘Barrett Browning’ daffodils have white petals and orange cups, which turn yellow as the flowers mature. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- These are ‘Cassata’ daffodil bulbs. Cassata is a showy daffodil that’s perfect for the border and looks great in broad sweeps. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- And this variety is called ‘Delnashaugh.’ These are double creamy white blooms with fluffy peach-pink segments. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- ‘Delibes’ are beautiful primrose-yellow flowers with large, shallow cups that shades to orange at the mouth. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- This daffodil is called ‘Snowboard’ – clean, understated, and elegant. It has blizzard-white flowers with a flawless funnel-shaped cup. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- ‘White Lion’ has white petals interspersed with crepe-like ribbons of soft yellow. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- This variety is called ‘Sir Winston Churchhill.’ Each stem bears clusters of three to five white flowers with flecks of orange in the middle. The scent is fresh and sweet. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- ‘Kedron’ has lovely apricot-yellow petals which are set off a small, rich orange cup. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- ‘Segovia’ has dainty, flat-faced flowers with white, propeller-like petals and chartreuse cups. (Photo courtesy of Colorblends Wholesale Flower Bulbs)
-
- All the bulbs are planted. This bed will look so pretty come spring. I hope this inspires you to start planting some beautiful bulbs in your garden.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
