Homeowner Forum / Lawn and Garden / November 2007

If the ground is still accessible and not frozen, plant them now.

Plant them now or regret it. When I lived in Alaska I occasionally
planted bulbs so late in the season that I had to shovel snow to get to
the ground and never once did I have a failure. This worked for lily,
daffodil, tulip, and hyacinth. If you leave the bulbs out of the ground
until next fall I really doubt that you would have any survivors.

I lost 50 last year.  Didn't feel up to dealing with them late in the
preceding fall, so I gambled and stored them in the fridge the until the
next fall.

They had a little mold on them, but otherwise didn't *look* too bad.  My
daughter planted them for me where I had by now made room, and they went
in pretty easy because it was freshly tilled but still a lot of work.

Don't recommend it.  Not a one came up the following spring, and when a
landscaper planted my roses for me, there they were, rotted.

This year I planned better to space the work out and planted over 200
bulbs, including daffs, just not so many.  So I would advise to plant
them now.  You might want to put an augur on a drill but the drill has
to have pretty good hp.  Sometimes bulb planters work, but sometimes
they are tough to get deep enough.  If there is sod and little moisture
in the soil, forget it.  Till first if you can.

I don't envy you.  It will probably be cold working now.

Sarah,

Bulbs just don't store well for long periods.  Try to get them in the
ground as soon as you can (before the ground is frozen).