No, no, no, no, no.

The store needs to greatly reduce the price to either 50% off or 75% off and hope there is someone willing to take a chance on them and deal with them now. It is way past the optimal planting time, and if the ground is not frozen there yet, it soon will be.

If they don't sell soon after greatly reducing the price, I'd just mark them as FREE and make a few customers happy.

Sue

As Sue said, they *cannot* be held for the Fall. Mark 'em way down now. Speaking of, I'd take some of those paperwhite bulbs off your hands if they are still firm. How much would you want for a small/medium flat rate box shipped?? Email me!!

If you have a store front - you can also pot them yourself, leave outside and periodically water, then sell them as blooming plants in a few months (the amaryllis would sprout pretty soon - keep this one indoors, tulips need a cold chill and if they haven't had one might not bloom, paperwhites and daffs will sprout and flower fine, they could be left indoors or out).

If you're creative you could find all sorts of things to plant them in.
Think of them like bulbs you know - you couldn't store an onion bulb in your refrigerator for 9 months and not expect it to be mush - same with these. They just won't survive not being planted.

Think of them like bulbs you know - you couldn't store an onion bulb in your refrigerator for 9 months and not expect it to be mush - same with these. They just won't survive not being planted.
Good comparison!

Sue

Seeds can go completely dormant in storage but a bulb is still biologically active, gradually consuming its stored energy. Bulbs can last a surprisingly long time but they cannot skip a year. The longer it is in storage, the less energy will be left in it.

(Occasionally, people will say something like an oriental lily or cyclamen skipped an entire year and came up 2 years after it was planted. This always happens when they are planted in the ground - never in storage - and it's very unusual.)

IF the ground is already frozen solid where you are, you can refrigerate the bulbs and plant them in early spring as soon as it is possible to dig. Chances are the blooms will be distorted somewhat in the first year but if they are capable of naturalizing they will look better the second year.

Thanks everyone, I am potting them up to sell as blooming bulbs in 6" pots and other decorative containers. For the tulips, should I put them outside to chill and for how long before I bring them inside to bloom? It's zone 6b here. I also have bags of hyacinths, daffodils , and alum. do they need chilled? The paperwhites and amaryllis I'll just port them all up and force them to decorate the store/sell. I'll look into sending some to elleni. Thanks again!

Good to hear you're potting them - economy isn't great for small business and if you can get something back from your investment - super. Since you're putting the tulips outside, I'd leave them there until the green sprouts are about 2 inches tall. You do need sun for them to grow and flower well - you could leave them outside until they begin to flower and then scrub off the pots and sell them. Too much warth when they're flowering will make tulips drop their petals.

Hyacinths do best with a chill as well.

If you meant arum, not alum - they do not need a chill: http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Arum

Here is a link that might be useful: Martha Stewart's bulb forcing article

Possibly meant Allium?

All those bulbs except paperwhites need to be chilled. Don't chill them outside because the temperature swings too drastically. They don't need to be - and shouldn't be - chilled below freezing. A cool garage may work, a refrigerator is plenty cold and probably a little colder than they like.