Oh, and crocuses, too. :)

I have tried researching, but I get about ten different answers. I want to see what everyone says here and then I will pick whatever is the most common--I figure everyone here has actual experience. :)

I don't fertilise them at all. They just get whatever mulch is going on the garden anyway.

I'm with Flora - you get 10 different answers because there is NO single correct one :-) Every fertilizer manufacturer is going to recommend their own but if your soil is decent and you mulch regularly, very little additional fertilizing for anything is ever required.

If you feel you must, an all-purpose fertilizer (all 3 numbers the same) is appropriate, applied modestly on established bulbs just as the foliage begins to appear. Newly planted bulbs have everything they need to thrive and bloom already contained in the bulb, which are food storage organs for the plants.

Thanks! I went with Epsoma. I do not mulch (mild winters), and I feel I should do something. :)

carolinaflower - mulch,mulch, mulch whatever the winter. We have pretty mild winters too but I mulch all the same. What else do you do with all that compost you're making. (You are, aren't you?;-))

I am with flora. Resist the feeling that you must put something on your soil just because it is advertised for that purpose. I look down on our old farm now growing grapes. The property has been split, one vineyard being farmed completely organically, the other property newly sold farmed by "newly minted farmers". The new farmer has hauled in several yards of gypsum soon to be spread. That piece of ground was a peach orchard when I was a boy and I know the soil well. The addition of the gypsum will not hurt the soil, neither will it help it. So much of the touted soil additives fall into the "it won't hurt the soil or help it category". Compost and mulch both came off the soil and should be put back on to maintain the micro organism life in the soil. No one makes a lot of money on these products or spends money advertising them. Al

Mulching has very little to do with cold protection and everything to do with soil improvement. As a garden coach/mentor, one of the first things I tell new clients is the best thing you can do for your garden is to mulch it on a routine basis. Mulching will improve soil structure, guard against erosion (and erosion can occur with just natural rain fall on unprotected soil), protect soil moisture/reduce surface evaporation, retard weed development year round and if a quality organic mulch like compost, replenish any required nutrients, negating the need for any supplemental fertilization. Plus, organic mulches effectively recycle what would otherwise be considered waste products.

No composting here, sorry...I seriously do not have the time. :( Dh is against mulching because he says it has to be replaced so often. Is that true? What kind of mulch do you recommend? Thanks!

I've heard Ed Hume say this many times:

Fertilizing Bulbs

Q: At one of your lectures, at the Garden Show last spring, you mentioned fertilizing bulbs in late winter. I have forgotten the exact timing and method you suggested? Can you give me additional information?

A: The best time to feed the bulbs is when the new foliage growth is about two to four inches high, in late winter or earliest spring. And, a second application should be made just after the bulbs finish flowering. Use a liquid type fertilizer, such as fish, Peter's, Rapid-Gro, Miracle-Grow, etc. Apply to the new leaves and surrounding ground. Use according to directions so you do not burn the tender new growth. These feedings are made to help build strength into the bulbs, for future flowering. This type of feeding is sometimes especially useful for bulbs that have been in the ground for a number of years.

Thanks! That's about what I was thinking, except I was going to do another one in late fall. Those make sense. I appreciate it!

Sterling Form Bone Meal working effectively for the bulbs. Actually bulbs requires Phosphorus for root growth. Bone meal contains rich amount of Phosphorus and small amount of Nitrozen. 10 gms for smaller pots and 20 gms of bone meal for bigger pots. Mix the bone meal with the local soil for better results. I have planted different varieties of bulbs in my home garden in India with the above combinations and getting very good results.

If the foliage of bulbs remains until death (and not covered with other plants are cut off for appearances), photosynthesis will build up the energy required for a new season's flowering...and in truth, I tend not to fertilise mine...but, bulbs grown in shade, in impoverished soil, will benefit from a spring top-dressing of blood, fish and bone - hyacinths and crown imperials for example, and bulbs in containers will certainly benefit from a slow-release granular fertiliser such as Osmacote.

Well, I love to garden, but don't compost. I am a working Mom, so I recycle, but only retain my coffee grounds. I will be better someday.....at so many things, actually.

Carolina, I replace my mulch basically yearly. It does break down fast. I use shredded hardwood mulch from Home Depot - whatever's cheapest. For my vegetable garden, I try to buy a more natural mulch - no colors added, etc.

The benefits to mulching are threefold and are worth the expense and once a year labor.

1. Less weeds and they are easier to pull. Also, by midsummer, I don't weed at all as everything is totally suppressed.

2. Water retention. I water less and my plants get less stressed on a really sunny/hot day.

3. The mulch breaks down providing a great deal of improvement to my soil which is a mix that leans towards clay. At the top, my soil is dark brown.

I compost, but due to allergies to molds, can't do the turning, etc that dedicated hot composters do. I do just what Floral does - dump garden debris that isn't diseased and kitchen scraps onto the pile which is neatly contained by a fence. After a couple of years, I pull out the finished compost and spread it with no issues as the molds aren't active by then - literally no other work involved. For us, it's far less work than hauling to the town transfer station and enriches soil in a way that doesn't create issues with excess nutrients in ground water and surface water in the way that water soluble fertilizers can since the organic matter in compost will hold onto nutrients until used by the plants.

In many parts of the US much of the water pollution is from non-point sources such as overuse of fertilizers by agriculture and homeowners. Unless a soil test tells you that nutrients are lacking in your soil or you are planting in pots, adding fertilizers will be worse than useless since in many soils, the excess nutrients wash into either into the groundwater or into the storm sewers and from there into the nearest body of water. I think here in the US companies like Scotts have miseducated us to think that plants won't do well without fertilizer, but IME gardening in two different states and 5 gardens over more than 40 years, I've rarely used fertilizers, just compost and shredded wood mulch. I do use lime or ashes in my current acidic soil to raise the pH for veggies, but that isn't fertilizer.

Posie is right on the money as far as why to use mulch.

As Gym Rao says, bulbs need phosphorous- much more so than other plants. But, if you live in the Rocky Mountains - the soil has plenty phosphorous and more.

Actually, the need for phosphorous for good bulb development is grossly overstated. Roots grow perfectly well with any plants without additions of P. I have never once added phosphorous (or any other kind of fertilizer/bulb food) when planting spring blooming bulbs. The bulbs contain all the nutrients required for root development, healthy growth and flowering and most soils contain adequate levels of P to begin with. I have never fertilized in subsequent years either, although I do use a good fertile mulch on all my beds. The bulbs don't need it and most soils do not require it.

Use a Low Phosphorous Fertilizer for Fall Planted Bulbs.

The Myth of Phosphate Fertilizers I

The Myth of Phosphate Fertilizers II