Buy your bulbs early so you can choose from a good selection, then store them in your garage away from the warmth and the sun. Do not put them in plastic bags. If it warms up, they can start to mold. Paper bags are better so the bulbs can “breathe”.

When buying bulbs, think about planting…When and where do you want to plant them? Do you want them to bloom early or late? Will they be in the sun or the shade?

 Daffodils will spread from their rhizome every year, getting bigger and bigger. A tulip bulb is next year’s plant, and once it blooms, that bulb disappears forever.  There might be 1 or 2 babies that come up next year.  Some people treat tulips like annuals and are surprised when they come back instead of disappointed when they don’t.

I generally like to plant my bulbs in October or November when the soil is cooler. Everyone thinks that bulbs have to be planted early in the ball, but in reality what they need is the right number of cool days after planting to ensure they bloom. Take it from a procrastinator like me, I have planted bulbs as late as the 1st or 2nd week of January with good luck. You can plant as long as you can dig a hole.

In general, when planting in Colorado, I like to plant my bulbs a couple inches deeper that the instructions say. If the package recommends 2” deep, I plant them 4” deep.  If it says 4”, then I plant at 6”. Because of the clay soils, the bulbs tend to work their way to the surface. Planting deeper keeps them buried.

When planting the bulbs, I like to dig a big hole, then put in 5 or 6 bulbs, for more of a “bouquet” effect in the spring, rather than a single “soldier”. Usually the “belly button” (roots) go down and the pointed end goes up. If for some reason the bulbs get turned around, don’t worry about it. They will figure it out.

It is it’s important to put fertilizer in the hole so the plant has food for the following years. All companies have a bulb fertilizer.  All of them work. The one I usually use is Espoma’s Bulb Tone. It is a nice blend, and yes, it is organic if that is important to you. I also like to amend the soil above the bulb with some compost. Peat moss or good potting soil will work as well.

Most people think you do not have to water the bulbs after you plant them, but I have found that watering once a month the bulbs respond better in the spring.