A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Weird weather and bulbs

Howdy all!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
We have been having some much warmer then normal temps here in Cheese Land lately and no change in sight. Since a few days before Christmas we have had temps in the mid to upper 30*s with some of the warmer days even passing 40*. I know those temps may make a few of you shiver but believe me this is VERY warm for this area. Prior to the warm up we have had enough "seasonal" and colder weather to set the spring bulbs. My question to you all is, has anyone ever had a extreme warm up in mid winter and what was its effect on the spring bulbs? I am very curious as to what will happen if they do start growing and we go back to more seasonal temps which for this area would be way below freezing.

Thanks


Mike Maier

My experience with this has been:

As long as it is only leaves that are up and there is a freeze the bulbs usually will go ahead and bloom at the right time...Now if they start to get bubs and then freeze forget it...No blooms for that year. I always just cover new sprouts up with alittle more dirt or leaves etc to protect them or discourage them for a while longer so that they will have a better chance for blooming at close to the right time. Of course the extra dirt/leaves or mulch needs to be pulled back when it gets closer to the right time for the bulbs. Whether I am right or not..this has been what I have done and experienced.

plant Doc and Comfrey I glad you asked the Question after just planted so many bulbs it was 79 degrees here and had only 2 days of unexpected freeze about a month ago and hasn't dropped below 36 at night since , staying between 62-80 day time .. So..

Comfrey If they start sprouting cover them with more mulch and leaves ??? It should get cold here usually Jan and Feb we get a freeze or two... But this winter has diffenatly been very warm??? I hate to think All I did was in vain

Someone correct me if I am wroung...But I think the things you planted Angelblossom need to go through a freeze period to trigger them to start doing something, either way in your case the bulbs need to establish a root system before they will do anything, so you should be safe even with the warm temps right now.

You are right comfey if you plant tulips, daffodils, lilies, they have to have a chill period of at least 60 dys before they will flower. That is why people in warmer climates have to dig these bulbs up and keep them in the fridge until spring,

I have lots of pine needles and if we get a warm snap as we are now I throw 2" over the bulbs.

They have to chill for 60 days??? "Chill" meaning HOW COLD?? It was only cold here meaning freezing temp at night for about 3 weeks or less with warmer days in the 40's and 50's..Been like that for years here and my bulbs bloom every year...

Actually I had them in my veggie crisper for a few weeks before planting,,, the iris's that were already in the yard when I moved in I've just left alone and they keep coming back, but today temps started dropping maybe we will get a little winter after all NO WAIT 5 minutes the weather will change again it's making me crazy But I think because I chilled them first,(Except for the one I bought last minute LOL) they were on sale I'm sure because they were already starting to sprout ,, but I planted any way and I did put 2" of mulch ,,


My next question is do I water frequently during this period,, I did water upon planting and an over all watering upon finishing,, No rain in the forecast we haven't had a good rain since Sept, 1/4" in October... I planted saturday & watered & watered again on sunday ,, so Water Again??
Thank so much for the help I want soooo much for these to root and bloom!!

Since you watered when you planted them, I wouldn't water again...if the gound stays wet the bulbs could rot. I didn't even water my tulip bulbs when I planted them. And Iris are tough, so no worries there..some of mine have green leaves year around.

Actually I was speaking of established bulbs that have been in the ground for years.
Up here there is no need to dig them up as nature provides its own refridgeration or at least it is supposed to. We had enough cold weather to set the bulbs, but now with this long warm spell the plants are actually starting to grow.
My main fear is that the plants will get to far along, then winter will return before the bulbs have a chance to recharge.

At this point they are covered with leaves about 2 feet deep, and I have no intention of removing the mulch for the time being.

2 foot deep leaves for mulch.....?
You sure your not just giving the bulbs too much heat in the first place without, warm weather..
It is cold here to and we never mulch our bulbs. They are to take care of themselves. I refer to ones like tulips, crocus , daffys....
The like cold?


dodge

I checked my tulip bed..and mine are sprouting also, I was talking to my mom about this and she said that in her opinion you should not mulch them if they have sprouted, as she said she did that one year and there was too much moisture in/under the mulch and some of her bulbs rotted. She also said it is better for them to sprout and then get froze, so that they stop, then to cover them and chance the possiblity of rotting, So in other words they should be fine as long as they don't get buds on them...if they get buds on them and get a freeze you may not get flowers this year.

Dodge

I only moved out here to Wisconsin about 6 years ago, from NY so I know the weather that you are used to very well.
Out here in Cheeseland the temps can get and stay a lot colder then what you are used to. I have seen periods of temps not getting above -20*f for weeks on end. Also you get a lot more snow on average then we recieve out here. Snow is one of the best insulators there is!

However, the mulching of the bulbs does not really protect them for the cold, once frozen they are okay and it does not really matter how cold it gets. The mulching does provide protection against the soil temps bouncing between above and below freezing, this for an extended period of time will start breaking down the cell walls and do quite a lot of damage to not only bulbs but pretty much any other tender roots as well.

Just an update to what is happening with our wacky weather as of yesterday, the silver maples are actually starting to bud and my lawn has already greened up. I also see weeds starting to sprout! All with no return to seasonal temps in the extended forecast.

I was out looking around yesterday and saw small green grasshoppers jumping around near the garden...I suppose with the warm weather they have hatched early, which might be a good thing especailly since it has turned a little colder here. Less grasshoppers to contend with.