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more success from keeping planting date records, Zone 5

linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)

17 years ago

For you Zone 5-ers:

How late do you plant various kinds of bulbs?

I'm wondering if we can get some kind of consensus for time of planting and success rate. We could use this to rule out planting certain things after particular dates. Ideally a chart if we planted enough things scientifically and kept data (and if I weren't dodging a work deadline RIGHT now).

For example, in mid-October of 2005 I planted Daffodils, Lilies, large and small Alliums, Tulips: all came up.

In mid-November I planted 200 daffodils, 20 lilies (orientals, trumpets, rubrum, asiatics), 20 hyacinths, and a kajillion small bulbs (allium ostrow.., chionodoxa, muscari). Some of the lilies did not come up (3 Trumpets, 3 rubrum). Everything else came up. At that point we had not had a real frost yet (not like this year).

In mid December, during a thaw, I planted 100 species tulips, 12 daffodils, and 100 muscari. All the daffodils came up, none of the tulips, only 3 out of 100 muscari.

All of mine except the alliums were treated with stinky bulb dip, so I know it wasn't squirrels accounting for the later-planted tulip losses. By planting late I seem to avoid most squirrel activity, but there's a trade-off in survival.

So based on my very limited data, I'm still getting in daffodils and small bulbs, but will plant/order no more lilies or tulips for this year (Scheepers lily order due to arrive Wednesday...I hope).

If you think this might be helpful, keep a chart or a list of when you planted your bulbs this fall, and let's compare notes next spring. (pitimpinai: I hope you're out there: you plant more bulbs than ANYONE...!)

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Comments (2)

milin
17 years ago
I am also a 5-er but I have much less work. Only tulips I plant every year always between mid-September and mid-October. This year in late September.
Other species: Allium, Colchicum, Crocus, Camassia, Leucojum, Erythronium, Muscari, Narcissus, Fritillaria, Scilla, Chionodoxa, Galanthus, Gagea and Ornithogalum I replant every third year : I dry off the bulbs and observe them - when they start rooting I plant them (mostly in summer).

Milin
leslie197
17 years ago
Just finished my bulbs today. Did not plant as much as usual this year because of some planned spring construction work - and still had trouble finding space for what I so glibly ordered in September!

I planted mostly large tulips, but also a hundred each of ipheions and species tulips, a dozen Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus, and one lone Fritillaria imperialis, since it is of doubtful hardiness in my wet clay.

My bulb planting was probably done a week or so late this year because of waiting around for contractor estimates - was not quite sure what I could get planted and where and got my order in late (lots of things were already sold out). Also it has rained incessantly here this fall!
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