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Planting over spring bulbs
Myosotis23
Posts: 69
I have a few tubs of spring bulbs that I would like to keep to flower again next year, is it ok to put more compost on them when they've gone over & then plant beddiing plants on top, so I can reuse the tubs, or would it be a better idea to dig the bulbs up & replant them later, or simply get some new tubs for summer. Thanks for any advice
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ooh this is a question I have always wondered too
I think it would be fine to plant over them once the leaves have died down, but that might take a while yet - if you're anxious to get planting I'd get some new tubs. If you don't let the leaves die down properly they won't flower well next year
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Would this apply to the daffs in the garden as I will have bedding out plants to go in and the daffs will not have died back fully by then. I did see somewhere that they can be cut as long as you put compost on top of them?
No, don't cut the leaves off of daffodils - they need the nutrition in the leaves to be drawn back down into the bulbs or they won't flower next year. Just leave them as they are and plant your bedding plants amongst them.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks for the speedy reply. Only problem is I have over 300 daffs so no room to plant amongst them! Will just have to hope that they die off quickly! Thanks again
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Have had exactly this problem in the past due to over enthusiasm with bulb purchasing. I have now reduced the number of bulbs in pots because they leave you with 6-8 weeks of untidy foliage. (You really must leave the foliage on and try to deadhead if you want them to bloom well again next year.) In the end I have bought other pots for my summer plants and put my bulb pots out of sight while they die down. It is easier in the end.
so while waiting for leaves to die down on daffs and tulips should i dead head the flowers ?
do tulips flower again next year if i dig up and replant or is it a waste of time with them?
i planted loads last autumn but have learned not to space them out so much as although still nice it looks too bitty so i shall dig them all up and store them then plant in bigger goups
thanks
Yes do dead head everything you can so they put all their energy into making food for the bulbs. I planted tulips last year and if they are just ordinary April/May blooming tulips it really is not worth keeping them - mine are poor this year and either diseased or stunted or hardly flowering, even though I spent a lot of money on them last year. Just a few that have been really great again this year are Stresa Gregeii (flowers in March and is yellow and red), Cape Cod Gregeii , Pinnochio Gregeii, Red Riding Hood Gregeii , Striped Bellona (flowers April and is lovely streaky yellow and red) and all my rockery tulips like Persian Pearl , Saxitilis, Little Beauty (these flower every year again and again). On the internet it is worth looking at the Gregii/Kaufmammiana tulips and even small botanical (rockery tulips) because these are the ones that give no trouble and come up again and again. In future I will only buy these.
(You do need to feed your bigger tulips in pots every 2 weeks (for 6 weeks after flowering while the leaves die down) with weak tomato food in the water if you want a chance of any thing next year and if possible keep them in the sun all the time for that 6 weeks. )
thank you janebal