Marianne's Response
Storing bulbs after bloom
Hi Marianne,
My daffs and tulips were great, but now I want to replace them from among the other plants in my pots and store them till fall. How is best to keep them viable? Moist? Dry?
Posted by lilaclady on April 28, 2019
Marianne's Response
If you want your bulbs to bloom next spring you must allow the green leaves to yellow and die a natural death. This is hard to do if you uproot them before the leaves have turned brown. It is more practical to either plant hosta, daylilies or some other summer bloomer in front of the spring bloomers or treat the bulbs like annuals, putt them up and replant new bulbs each spring. That said, gardening is an art not a science so some gardeners do have luck lifting the bulbs carefully after they bloom and then immediately replanting them in good soil with great drainage in an out of the way spot. Then allow the green foliage to age in place. Once the leaves have all turned brown, dig the bulbs again and place in a cool, dry shed until fall. The dormant bulbs like to be dry all summer. Then replant for spring blooms. One more idea is to plant the bulbs in a nursery pot and sink this into your larger containers for spring bloom. The remove the pot inside a pot so you will have room for summer annuals. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti
