Planting Hundreds of Tulip Bulbs
The last of our spring-flowering bulbs are now planted. This latest batch - 1200 gorgeous and colorful tulips!
If you like spring flowers in your garden, autumn is the time to plant the bulbs because they require a sustained dormant period of cold temperatures in order to stimulate root development. Here at my Bedford, New York farm, we plant thousands of bulbs every year - daffodils, Puschkinia, Chionodoxa, Dutch Iris, Camassia, alliums, etc. It’s so exciting to see the swaths of color in the garden beds after a cold, dreary winter. Our tulips are from The Flower Hat - a floral design studio and farm in Bozeman, Montana dedicated to floral services and floral industry education. Last week, just before the holiday, we planted all of our tulip bulbs in a handful of raised beds in the vegetable garden. They will look marvelous come spring.
Enjoy these photos. And be sure to check in all this week for Thanksgiving images!
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- We were so excited to receive all these bulbs from The Flower Hat. We received a great variety of different tulip bulbs, all in excellent condition. All tulips are planted in the fall and bloom in the spring. They grow best in zones 3 to 8 where they can get eight to 12 weeks of cold temperatures while under the soil.
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- Among the tulip bulbs we received, this is ‘Spryng Break.’ It has huge flowers that open in white with intense fuchsia-red flames. (Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- ‘Foxy Foxtrot’ is a double tulip with shades of apricot and yellow and hints of rose orange.(Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- ‘Queensland’ is a double fringed tulip with rose-red petals accented with light pink ruffles and serrated edges. This tulip opens with five-inch large blooms and grows up to 12 to 14 inches tall. (Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- This big red and white peony-like tulip is called ‘Drumline.’ (Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- And this one is ‘Double Sugar’ – with pink petals and a round, white center. (Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- ‘Estella Rijnveld’ is a bicolor heirloom with red and white flames that vary in width. When it opens, it has a yellow cast that fades to white as the flowers mature. (Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- ‘Flaming Parrot’ has bright buttercup-yellow blooms with red flames. It is among the most popular for cut-flower arrangements. (Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- This gorgeous double tulip is ‘Sugar Crystal.’ It has huge, feathery blooms with many layers of frilly petals in shades of silvery baby pink. (Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- And ‘Sanne’ has large, tapered flowers that open in deep rose-pink with creamy-pink edges and mature to lilac-pink with pink-ivory edges. (Photo courtesy of theflowerhat.com)
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- Brian starts by making the rows using the bed preparation rake from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. This tool allows him to easily create shallow furrows in the soil. Hard plastic red tubes slide onto selected teeth of the rake to mark the rows. All the beds were already well-fertilized.
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- Then he goes over the same furrows with the Row Pro™ from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. It’s great for making deeper trenches in the soil.
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- Meanwhile, Ryan sorts out the bulbs and decides what will be planted in which bed. They will look so pretty when in bloom. And they will be done blooming before it is time to plant our vegetables.
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- Ryan places the bulbs next to the bed in which they will be planted – all like varieties together.
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- To plant these tulip bulbs, Brian and Phurba use these dibbers. A dibber or dibble or dibbler is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground so seeds, seedlings or bulbs can be planted. Dibbers come in a variety of designs including the straight dibber, T-handled dibber, trowel dibber, and an L-shaped dibber. These are T-handled dibbers.
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- One by one, Brian places each bulb into the trench. Tulip bulbs are medium sized, so they should be buried at least six to eight-inches deep. As a rule of thumb, bulbs should be planted about three times the height of the actual bulb.
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- These tulip bulbs look so healthy. Any kind of bulb should be firm and free of soft spots or visible rot. Check for signs of disease, cracking or other damage, which may cause the bulb to rot in the ground. The brown tunic, or outer skin protects each bulb’s bottom or basil plate. One can peel it off, or plant as is.
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- Once all the bulbs are in their designated rows, Phurba follows behind and pushes the dibber into the soil making a hole where the bulb will be planted.
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- Phurba is careful to place each bulb with the pointed end faced up. This is important for all bulbs. If the pointed end is not obvious, look for the flat side of the bulb, which is the bottom.
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- Here is the bulb in the soil. Phurba plants all the bulbs before backfilling, so he can keep track of the planted holes and rows.
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- Bulbs are alive, but dormant, so they prefer to be in the soil. If they cannot be planted promptly, store them in a dark, dry location with good air circulation and temperatures averaging about 50 to 65-degrees Fahrenheit.
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- Once the bulbs are in their designated trenches, it’s time to rake the bed. Phurba carefully uses the back of a soft rake so he doesn’t disturb the bulb placements.
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- Most bulbs prefer full sun and average moisture. This day was quite cloudy, with showers in the forecast – perfect for our newly planted bulbs. We’ll have a beautiful cutting garden of colorful tulips come spring – I’ll be sure to share the photos.
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