I have GOT to get out and dig up my tulip bulbs.
When we first moved in we had to do all the landscaping, so I mail ordered about 500 tulip and daffodil bulbs to plant for some beautiful spring flowers. 500 bulbs!
I braced myself for a couple of days work, and I waited for the Mack truck that was obviously going to have to back up in my driveway to unload the stacks of boxes I was expecting.
You wouldn't believe what a surprisingly small box you can fit 500 bulbs into.
When the UPS guy carried it up to my doorstep WITH ONE HAND and dropped it on my doorstep, I was, well, stunned.
By the time I got around to planting them, it was the day before we were predicted to get a hard frost. Soooooo; I had to do it fast, and I planted them "temple style". Hey, I've been on planting projects at the temple and they plant those bulbs as close as they can get em. I figured if it's good enough for the temple grounds....
So instead of the 12" apart as recommended, I planted those babies about every 2-3 inches. Saved myself some serious digging time, too. I planted 500 bulbs in 2 areas that cover approximately 16 square feet.
And I will say, when those beauties came up the next year, they looked FABULOUS! They were showy and they all seemed to explode at once. OK- we WON the neighborhood best looking yard contest. Wooo- wooooo!!
The next spring they looked good, but not great, and this last year, they looked OK.
The thing about it... see, what nobody told me at the time.... is that when you plant that way, you have to dig up the bulbs every year and re-plant.
Now, I ask you, what's the point of planting perennials, if you have to do it over every year?
Oh well, they aren't even predicting that hard frost, yet, so I figure I've got at least 2 more weeks. Surely by then somebody around here will get into trouble and need a little work-therapy, right? Ah, teenagers!
10 comments:
I would have done the same thing. No wonder the Temple flowers look so pretty!
So if you have to dig them up when do you replant them?
It gave me a giggle, thinking of waiting for a kid to misbehave so you can get some of your work done. Brilliant!
I guess the deal is that they multiply underground, so now they're to crowded to bloom well.
So basically I have to just dig them up to spread them out.
Okay, can I just tell you that I've never been grounded in my life. My mom would have us pull weed, and stuff. This just made me LOL because I plan on doing it to my own children. How else will I get my yard in pristine shape?
I thought the idea of perennials was to plant and be done.
I think you're on to something with having the kids do it. I can just see you waiting around for the second anyone misbehaves. Classic. You'll have to let us know who the first victim is.
OK, seriously, I fancy myself a bit of a amateur gardener and yet, I did not know this. It explains so much about why my tulips looked like crap this year. And now it is probably too late. Sob.
You just dig em up and separate them.... and then replant. You can send the extras to me! I bought a bag of 24.... but I need 500.
Well, you could always just dig up SOME of them, would that work? Hmmm, I've never planted tulips- or much else for that matter.
I ♥ daffodils and tulips, but where I live, they are only good for one season...unless you dig 'em up and CHILL 'EM for several weeks, then store 'em, then dig holes for 'em, then plant 'em again, then hope you chilled 'em long enough...gah! Forget it, baby! :0
ah randi, what a pain to have to dig em up. yes, what is the point of digging up per. plants, so true. bummer! but thanks for telling me. didn't you have teens so you could get work out of them? he he. hope your night is better, kathleen :)
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