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Soil for Daffodil Bulbs planting

11 years ago

Hello,

I just planted 4 days back my daffodils, freesia and Ranunculus. I used mix of Miracle Grow garden soil and phoenix soil. Loosened all the soil below the bulb also and added bone meal at the base. I am just worried if I should have used only Miracle grow soil instead of mixing with phoenix soil which seems to be little clay to me. Please help me with my question, if I should remove some soil and try mixing more miracle grow soil or the way I did is fine and wait an see.

Thank you!!!

Comments (4)

flora_uk
11 years ago
What is phoenix soil? Do you mean you live in Phoenix and just used the local soil?

I have never grown Freesia or Ranunculus but daffodils don't need any special soil. Just a reasonably friable local soil and enough moisture.
vetivert8
11 years ago
Oh flora - NO buttercups?! (Lucky you!)

Freesias are fine in a silty or somewhat sandy soil and don't mind some clay content so long as they aren't waterlogged over winter while they're coming into leaf.

However - if you bought the big florists' varieties with the coloured flowers you must provide frost shelter unless you're in zone 9b or above. And some stem supports would be useful, too, because they can be tall and heavy and flop outrageously while they're flaunting.

If you're growing the little yellow-blotched white ones with the pleasant scent - they're hardy and sturdy in 9a for sure.

The Ranunculus with the big flowers like turbans need a deep soil and excellent drainage - and plenty of matured compost. They're a greedy flower - just like their pesky pasture relations. (Only the best manure patches for Them.) They have a mass of fine-hair roots out of all proportion to their scrawny little claws.

'Deep soil' means either a raised bed of 18" high, or digging down and loosening for at least 18".

Protect your amended soil and topsoil if you need to do this. Scoop it out onto a sheet of plastic while you are loosening up the next layer down using a strong gardening fork. Just push the fork into it and wriggle it to break up the stiff soil.

Then put the top soil back, add any amendments, and water it to settle the soil and get the soil life going again after the upheaval.

Do not mix the two different soil layers. The top one is where most of the food and soil life are found.

For fertiliser you can use one part superphosphate, one part blood and bone, and a spritz of sulphate of potash mixed through that amended soil before planting. Think in tablespoons - not poundweights - about an ounce of the mixed up brew scattered dry over a square yard and lightly forked through the top few inches before you plant your Ranunculus claws.
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If your soil is well drained your daffodils should tolerate watering, as long as you choose annuals that don't require a whole lot of water. As a rule, begonias don't do well here so I don't feel qualified to speak to that. Just keep in mind that daffodils really do prefer the soil to be on the dry side during the summer. Just how dry it needs to be will depend on the varieties you planted. I know that's not alot of help, but there it is. By the way, there are a number of annuals that deer don't like. Salvias and zinnias come to mind. They are two of my favorites for beauty, ease of care, and long season of bloom. I have alot of deer but they have never bothered these. As far as planting "over" the bulbs, you would do better to plant your annuals between the bulbs. That way you are less likely to damage the bulbs when you are digging holes for the annuals. It's very helpful to mark the position of your bulbs in the early spring so that you know where they are when you are planting for the summer.
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Plant them somewhere now, they will be nothing by the fall. Al
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It is way too early to plant as the soil temps need to cool. I suspect your proper planting time would be the close to mine, and you could start in early/mid Oct and continue until the soil freezes. There are even some of us late planters that devise ways to plant after the soil has frozen, planting above ground level, and then covering with soil, and mulches. In Nov and Dec there are always threads about still being able to get those last bulbs planted somewhere, somehow. Sue
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Preamble: My gardening style could be politely termed 'semi-organised chaos'. (The neighbour warns his kids about lofting their tennis balls over the fence - 'it's a jungle in there!' Ha!) So the daffodils hang out with a sequence of perennials, mostly: Hosta, Astrantia, Saxifrage, Libertia, Clematis integrifolia, polite Tradescantia, Origanum, Athyrium, Thalictrum, and bulbs that flower later such as Tritonia, Freesia, Ixia, Albuca, and the occasional calla. The 'worst' leaf problem comes, for me, from the very earliest - such as 'Erlicheer' - whose leaves linger until nearly Christmas and they're too big to disguise, so I pretend they're not there and let the Aquilegias, miniature roses, and true Geraniums divert the eyes. (It mostly 'works'...I hope.) If I use annuals I tend to go for plants such as petunia, verbena, and Impatiens because I am a lazy waterer for the in-ground plants. The plus, for me, is that the perennials are well-established now and quickly cover the daffodil sites with leaves without encroaching on their actual space; so the soil stays protected and slightly damper - which suits several of the cyclamineus sorts. And they're at rest when the daffs are heading toward the sun. The annuals usefully provide colour spots and continuity. I'd propose using both.
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flora_uk
11 years ago
Ho, ho, vetivert8. But no, I have never grown Ranunculus. Although they have occasionally grown themselves.
gardenerprer
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you Vetivert8, this was great information. Just waiting for them to start sprouting :) I am zone 9a btw.

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