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Gardening in Oz

Is it too late to plant bulbs?

20 years ago

Hi

Any chance that I could still plant some in a pot, in Sydney? (upper north) It's pretty cold where I am.

As you can tell I haven't done it before.

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Comments (9)

User
20 years ago
You have possibly left your run a bit late for a lot of them but you could still plant Nerines, Gladioli, Liliums and Lily-of-the-valley.

Cheers,
Dee.
Sparaxis
20 years ago
K-mart and Big W persist in selling bulbs way past their time. If you see them on special and they are still fairly firm, go for it if the price is good. Or you may have some you bought earlier and haven't had time to put in.
Daffodils planted late will flower late and give you a lovely show in Nov or even up to Christmas. Dutch iris will do the same. That is, so long as there is a chill factor. Even earlier planted ones won't bloom well in hot areas.
I have tulips and daffs still waiting to be planted. I have planted Sternbergia and had it flower in 4 days from planting. Bulbs are amazingly forgiving of neglect.
Give them a feed of Superphosphate and some pottash to get their roots growing well.
Cheers, Jan
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Too late to plant bulbs?
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Berlin is much warmer than anywhere in Maine, but if you are lucky enough to have unfrozen ground then get them in quick. Even if there is a frozen crust, you could break through it to plant down where the soil hasn't frozen yet. It might be a good idea to mulch them if nights are very cold, just to stop the bulbs freezing before they can establish. If you just can't get them in the ground, pot them up and keep them somewhere that is either frost-free (but below 50F) or constantly below freezing but protected from the worst cold. Repeated freeze-thaw can damage potted bulbs and they can be killed temperatures that would be OK if they were six inches down in the ground. In spring you can bring them out for a nice display wherevere you want, even bury the pots in a bed if you want.
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i will make it as simple as i can.. its for you to take the bullet points and go from there ... heres how you do it... use google.. find out how long from planting to bloom ... lets say 90 days ... then work back from there.. you want them in july ... they should be planted 90 days back ... or may ... you want them in august ... plant in .. etc ... [did i count right.. lol ] the problem is.. that every single one will bloom in one week.. which is nice .. but if you want a bigger/longer show... you plant some every week in may ... so you get a month of show ... if you want them in late august.. plant them in june .. got that part?? ... if not i can try again ... let me know ... now... as with ALL SEEDS .. or in this case corms.. soil temps are imperative.. frankly.. you MIGHT be too early ... soil temps might be warm during the day.. but if it is often falling into the 40's at night .. you dont have the constant soil temps to start the growth.. the seeds wont die ... but they arent going to sprout until some magic temp number is hit.. which in my z5.. wont be for 2 or 3 more weeks ... like when it stays in the 60''s all night long ... most likely all chances of FREEZE.. as compared to frost.. are gone.. so we need not worry about freezing the corms ... then in our zones.. you really dont want them getting too big.. until all frost possibilities are gone... and for me that is late may ... you.. maybe a week sooner .. so are you late... ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR YOUR ZONE .. and you may be too early by a long shot ... shall i try again.. i am willing.. ken ps: i have lived 100 miles south of flint my entire life.. no glad is hardy .... UNLESS they are planted along the house.. where there might be a micro climate .. otherwise.. i would like to get some of those corms for my garden .... and maybe get them to market .... pps: you could take an old tray.. put some damp media in it.. and loosely cover the corm .... and start forcing growth .... in the garage .... and when the growth points get an inch or two big.. go plant them out in the soil .... and maybe get them to bloom a few weeks earlier ... try it with 3 or 4 ... experimenting is the BEST way to learn ... just dont forget about them.. and find them in august.. lol ...
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Is it too late to plant my bulbs?
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Comments (1)
It's definitely not too late!!! If you can make a hole to plant the bulb, i.e. the ground hasn't frozen solid yet, you can plant the bulbs. I'd say you probably have until at least Nov 20-30 to do it. I'm a professional landscaper and we haven't even begun to plant bulbs yet, still planting trees and shrubs. I like to go to the big stores at the end of the season to buy some of their left overs at 75% discount and I take some to Thanksgiving dinner for the kids to plant. It's become part of the holiday tradition, gives them something to look forward to 'after winter'
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Is it too late to plant spring bulbs in containers?
Q
Comments (9)
You can plant spring bulbs in pots. However, don't plant anything that needs pre-chilling. Paperwhites, freesias will do fine. I bought some dutch irises and found out they will not return next year. I also found that freesias generally do not return here either. Ice Follies is a popular daffodil that the big box stores sell that seems to do well here. So, if I know that a bulb will not return, I plant it shallow. Just press it into the soil. I did this with freesias and dutch irises and they popped up real quick. However, the shallow planting is only recommended for bulbs that will be grown "as annuals". Since you will be growing these in containers I assume you want to grow them as annuals. If you want the plants to become perennials, plant them in the ground at the recommended depth and also as Jani recommended.
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aeor
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks for the info Dee and Jan. I'm going to see what I can get and give some a try. I haven't bought any, but did intend to, and have had a crazy few months. I'll see what I can do, your help is very much appreciated and needed!
thanks
Andrea
wattleblossom
20 years ago
I've forgotten all sorts of bulbs over the years. One year it was 1000 ranunculi which I didn't get in until July. They flowered late, all through November, and looked great. Plant whatever you buy in either bulb planting mix or good potting soil with a sprinkling of bulb food or blood and bone, then water in. I'm sure they'll be fine.
User
20 years ago
Yes Aeor, I have to agree with Wattleblossom and Sparaxis. What I told you is 'by the book'. Rules are made to be broken (aren't they? LOL). At the very worst, if you plant them now and they don't flower this year, you'll still have them for next year. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so go for it!

Cheers,
Dee.
alisonoz_gw
20 years ago
One of the nicest hippeastrum I bought, I rescued from K-Mart, it had been hanging around so long a flower spike was actually pushing through the side of the plastic bag. I shamed the nursery-lady there into marking it down to 50 cents.
I agree with Sparaxis and add to the big chain's faults (I include Bunnings here) the sin of selling some cold climate bulbs in inappropriate areas where they really have little chance of surviving to second season.
But I agree with the above, nothing ventured. If you have unsown bulbs, they only have one shot. If you are buying them, make sure they are cheap enough.
Sparaxis
20 years ago
Last year i bought 100 sprekelia bulbs for a very reasonable price on e-bay. They were sent to me in the sort of box that you buy 5X A4 reams of paper. Therre werre well over 100, and my dilemma was "where to plant them". I was at that stage filling raised planter beds, and had put in an orange and lemon tree and did not plan to underplant them. I set the box aside and forgot about it. A couple of months later i discovered my error, and opened the box. EVERY bulb had a pale pink flower stalk and bud. Well the space was there so in they went under the baby citrus trees, and behind the Iris japonica variegata. 4 days later the started flowering, bright red, the stalks greened up and leaves started to show. The display of so many bright red blooms behind the vareigated foliage of the iris was wonderful to see and the bulbs haven't looked back.
Remember that anything you buy in the way of daffodils or dutch irises will ALREADY have a flower in the bulb, just waiting to show itself. No problem about bloom this year. They will still bloom if you throw them on the lawn. NEXT year they may not do so well as they are not currently taking in nutrient to plump out the bulbs. I must say though, from another experience of jonquils in a pot blooming their heads off with hardly any soil for 3 Springs, I think these things live on air and water.
Cheers, Jan
aeor
Original Author
20 years ago
Ok
I now have a half wine barrel full of daffodils and a pot full of tulips. Lets see how it goes. Wow have I learnt a lot about bulbs in two days. Thanks to all, I love hearing about the forgotten bulbs.
Not only did I plant numerous bulbs today, I managed to transplant 9 small shrubs and plant out 12 other small shrubs. ( I did say I was waaaaaay behind) I did all of this today between the hours of 10 am and 4.30, I also managed to do 4 loads of washing, cook a roast (no I'm not kidding), and feed my 3 year old. Oh and take photos of a couch which we want to sell on ebay. I think I am superwoman!
cheers and warm thanks for the bulb stories.
A
Sparaxis
20 years ago
Oh Aeor, you ARE superwoman, and an inspiration to us all. Well done! I hope your 3 year old is taking notes :-)

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