Planting summer bulbs in fall?
mattfranklin_rose
8 years ago
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mattfranklin_rose
8 years agoRelated Discussions
What makes 'spring bulbs' spring and 'fall bulbs' fall?
Comments (3)The whole "spring bulb" and "fall bulb" labels can be confusing. Tulips/Daffodils/Crocus/Hyacinth and the like, for example - planted in the fall, but people generally call them spring bulbs because that's when they bloom. However, the bulbs you see for sale in the fall are the hardy plants that generally want a cold period and will survive the winter and come back year after year, like those I mentioned above. What you see for sale in the spring are the non-hardy bulbs and bulb-like plants that will not survive in the ground over winter, such as Dahlias, Caladiums, Elephant Ears, Glads, Cannas. Some people treat these as annuals, and others lift the roots and store them from year to year, replanting each spring. Of course, as you move further south, eventually you reach a zone for each of these things where it will be hardy outside through the winter, i.e., they will be perennials - for Glads and Cannas, we're probably talking US zone 7, a little further south for the other things mentioned. Still, they are traditionally sold in the spring because the merchants want to cover the whole range of both cold and warm zones with one sales period. The confusion comes because there are a lot of things you see packaged bare-root like bulbs which are for sale in both fall and spring - such as the Astilbe and Bleeding Heart you mention above and lots of other perennials. As you say, the packages look identical with the same contents and one shows fall planting and the other shows spring planting. These are the things that are successfully divided and transplanted any time they are dormant, which is from fall until they start to grow in the spring, so they are sold at both times. Lilies are a true bulb that is also in this category - the bulb never goes completely dormant, so they can put out new roots any time you transplant and will do well either spring or fall planted. As Cranebill mentions above, the best results for any given growing season will come if you get them in during the fall before, but I have always had success with them in the spring. Also, as Cranebill mentions above, if in doubt when spring comes, plant it anyway. The worst that can happen is that it won't grow, which is ASSURED if you don't plant it. - Steve...See Morewanted: bi-annual bulb swap - for summer/fall blooming bulbs
Comments (1)* not sure if there is just very little interest in this kind of swap on the forum this year, or if no one has seen this yet ... I'm bumping it up so that everyone can see ... I have a bunch of people from previous years interested and also gardeners from around my home ... so far we have 12 participants, but no one from this forum as of yet. Just wondering if there is anyone here interested in this year's swap? The deadline is April 30 so if you are interested, please send me an email or post to this thread to let me know! Thanks a lot :)...See Morewhat lilies do you plants for summer and Fall
Comments (7)I'm in zone 6 and my lilies are about half way through. If you only planted 'asiatics' then your missing out on the best. Mine start as martagons, then asiatics & LA hybrids, trumpets and orientpets & orientals. Black Beauty and Speciosum are some of the lastest bloomers....Aug/Sep here. Here's a few pics of different types....generally asiatics don't have any fragrance and trumpets & orientals do. Asiatic 'Windsong' Trumpet 'Copper Crown' Oriental 'Casablanca' Do you know what you have growing? flora...See MoreWhat's your favorite late summer/fall plant?
Comments (33)I have way more fall color than flower color this year. With one exception it doesn't last as long as most flowers, but for me fall foliage color is more stunning that most flowers can achieve. This is one of my favorites this year, Disanthus cercidifolius. It's fall color has already lasted for more than a month and is still going strong. It went through quite a lot of color change during this period. This is what it looks like now.. The yellow foliage to its right is Ribes White Icicles and the redder foliage at the lower right is Itea Virginia. This latter is an outstandingly colorful plant. It's fall color lasts all winter until new leaves push out the old in spring. It has very pretty white flowers in spring. Fothergilla gardeni is another beautiful shrub with all season appeal but it is just spectacular for three to four weeks in the fall. My persimmon tree deserves special mention because of the beautiful combination of foliage and fruit. I also have blueberries that color beautifully and all sorts of grasses. I do have a very showy Salvia in bloom now and some Sasanqua Camellias. I'll try for a photo tomorrow....See Moremattfranklin_rose
8 years agomattfranklin_rose
8 years agomattfranklin_rose
8 years agomattfranklin_rose
8 years agomattfranklin_rose
8 years agomattfranklin_rose
8 years ago
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