Tulips, daffodils, crocus and hyacinths flower in spring only if they go into the ground in fall. They need weeks in cold soil to grow roots before winter, so the planting window opens once the soil has cooled and closes when the ground freezes. In much of the US that falls in October or November.
This checklist follows one planting from buying the bulbs to mulching the bed. The digging takes an afternoon. What you do before that afternoon decides whether anything comes up.
Think about what eats bulbs in your yard before you choose them. Squirrels dig up freshly planted tulips and crocus, and deer eat tulip shoots in spring. Daffodils are poisonous to both, so in a yard with a lot of deer or squirrels they are the bulb most likely to make it to April.
- Look up the date the ground usually freezes where you live — Bulbs need several weeks in cool soil to root before that date, so plant well ahead of it.
- Pick a spot that gets spring sun and drains well — A bed under trees that leaf out late still gets sun in early spring. Where puddles sit after rain, bulbs rot.
- Note whether deer or squirrels visit that part of the yard — If they do, plant more daffodils and fewer tulips and crocus.
- Choose bulbs that flower in early, mid and late spring — Crocus and snowdrops open first, then daffodils and hyacinths, then late tulips and alliums.
- Buy bulbs that feel firm and heavy for their size — Leave any that are soft, moldy or shriveled.
- Keep bulbs cool, dry and dark until planting day — A hot car or a sunny garage dries them out. Plant within a few weeks of buying.
- In a mild-winter area, chill tulips and hyacinths in the fridge first — Where winters are too warm to chill them in the ground, they need many weeks of cold beforehand. Keep them in a paper bag away from ripening fruit, which gives off a gas that can damage the flower bud inside the bulb.
- Wear gloves to handle hyacinth and tulip bulbs — The papery skins can make hands itch.
- Keep daffodil bulbs away from pets and out of the kitchen — They are poisonous and look a lot like onions.
- Clear weeds and loosen the soil a little below planting depth
- Work compost into heavy clay — Clay holds water against the bulb.
- Dig each hole two to three times as deep as the bulb is tall — A bulb 2 inches tall goes about 4 to 6 inches down. Measure the depth from the base of the bulb.
- Plant each kind in a clump rather than a single row — A clump of one color shows from across the yard. One bulb every foot along a path looks thin.
- Set each bulb pointed end up — If you cannot tell which end is the top, lay it on its side and the shoot will find its way up.
- Fill the holes and firm the soil down with your hands
- Skip bone meal if animals dig in your yard — Its smell can draw dogs and squirrels straight to the bed.
- Lay chicken wire over tulip and crocus beds if squirrels dig there — Pin it flat under a thin layer of soil or mulch, and lift it in late winter before shoots come up.
- Water the bed deeply after planting — It settles the soil around the bulbs and starts the roots. In a dry fall, water again if the soil dries out before it freezes.
- Mark where each kind went — A plant label or a phone photo keeps next year's spade out of them.
- Spread a few inches of mulch once the ground starts to freeze — Mulch keeps the soil from thawing and refreezing on mild winter days.