I can't imagine planting 2,000 bulbs. I get a backache planting a small package of 14! Is there a trick to it I don't know about? I even used a drill for the holes. It took me more than a week to plant 7 packages of bulbs. With only 5 to 14 bulbs per package.

Merri,

Not that this method is any less back breaking, but one method I use is to dig a trench the required width and depth. I put the bulbs in, along with some bulb food, and then gently cover it over. It allows me to plant a large number at once without having to make all of those holes. It's kind of like putting them in a planter, only at ground level!

Digging trenches for bulbs is my way too.
I dig the trenches the size of an open lattice garden tray and then place the tray over the planted area to keep squirrels away from bulbs.
Then I sow seeds through the lattice to keep birds from seeds.

mnmat said:

I went to a gorgeous little town in Iowa that had a wind mill and a tulip festival . I was there after the festival so the town was quite but I had a great time exploring. I think it was Pella but I'm not sure since it was a long time ago. Am I right?

That would be correct. Orange City has some sort of tulip festival, but I've never been there. We have several windmills now. Our festival has been going on for over 50 years!

Bulb planting here can be a real challenge. You use the bulb planting tool. Bring it out and pure CLAY! That is a big no-no as the bulbs detest clay, will not perform well, will rot, etc.

WRT planting a couple thousand (mostly large bulbs that require a lot of single holes) it requires a lot of tenacity.

This year I started to plant some in an area that I have no bulbs. Went down about 2 inches and hit pure clay. I forgot that when I planted 4 small shrubs in the area a year ago (salvage end of season Potentillas from Lowes at $1 each.) it took me a couple of hours. For 4 plants. So I moved on this year with the Tulips.

Anyway. here is why I still have 40 Tulips in a bag in my garage. That and where I wanted to plant them has ground cloth under the mulch and clay under that. Feh.

https://garden.org/thread/view...

I wish I could dig trenches here, however, I have other bulbs in the same place that I plant my fall bulbs, so that's a no go for me. In addition, we have that lovely red clay🙄, that until our recent rains, was like concrete to dig in, due to our level 2 drought.

We stayed unseasonably warm until 2 weeks ago, skipped over fall, and hopped right into winter, with temps in the 20's at night, and chilly days . Thankfully, we finally got rain, after none for 42 days.

I planted 88 tulips on 11/28 in my street bed, and another 42 today, along with pansies by my mail box. I wanted to plant more bulbs in pots with pansies, however, the soil in the pots were frozen. It's warming up later this week, so I'll do them then.

I was thrilled to find many of my Tequlia Sunrise mix hyacinths as I was planting, in my street bed that were planted last year still looking good.

Only 1080 tulips, and 199 hyacinths left to plant from my fall order, then there's bucket of mixed bulbs that I saved from last year. What the heck was I thinking, ordering so many bulbs

I'm going to attempt to force one of the hyacinth bulbs just for fun.

Cem9165 said:
Only 1080 tulips, and 199 hyacinths left to plant from my fall order, then there's bucket of mixed bulbs that I saved from last year. What the heck was I thinking, ordering so many bulbs

Good luck.

Legalily said:Only 4 more lilies but none of them come until spring.

Uh huh it ain't over til it's over!

Kabby that's what I'm afraid of.

That's what friends are for Ginny to keep egging you on, I mean, to help you show restraint.

Paybacks

I still have my bag of 40 lovely tulips and the ground is frozen SOLID.

David,

Can you plant the tulips in pots for now, then plant them in the ground in the spring when it thaws?

When I was desperate in the past, I've poured hot water in my of frozen pots to loosen the soil and get the bulbs in, and they did fine. There were no other plants in the pots. I wonder if this would work for the ground where you want to plant the tulips?

I am bad. I have planted bulbs without digging.

I always have more fall leaves then most people. I had 11 bags ready from the first leaf gather. They went down first.

I had two bags of top soil, two bags of garden soil and 4 bags of mulch. I put one bag down threw the bulbs on top and spread the rest of the soil and mulch on top.

Got my chicken wire out and pinned it on top and came in the house.

@Cem9165 Annette - I may just do that. Put em in pots and stick on the North side of my house so they dont freeze/thaw/repeat - that WILL kill them. If I put them there and cover with a foot or so of leaves, that may be my best chance.

My ground is so frozen solid, don't think I even want to attempt that. And getting worse - Minus 6 on Sunday.

Cinta, what a great way to plant your bulbs!

David, I plant bulbs in pots every year, that go through the freeze/thaw cycle and do fine. I hope your bulbs do well.

I was off today, and planned on planting more bulbs, but woke up to a disaster left on my front walkway, left by the deer. They snatched off the landscape mesh that I put over my bed that I recently planted with tulip bulbs and pansies, and decimated the pansies. Luckily, I still had plants that I was going to use in pots, so I replaced the ones I lost with those.

After cleaning up that hot mess, I was only able to do tulips under one of my cherry trees. I planted 88 Dordogne, 68 Ollioules, 91 Salmon Impression, and 78 Pink Impression tulips, for a total of 325 bulbs done today.

I'll plant under my 2nd cherry tree this weekend. Only 755 tulips left to plant.

Deer devastation 🙄

on the mess. Frustrating

I use to love seeing the deer. The other house I had only occasional nibbles. When I moved here and got herds I know longer think they are cute. I never plant tulips they eat the buds I do not get digging my critters wait until everything is ready to bloom.

I had daylilies that I did never saw bloom because as soon as the buds grew they ate them. They have eaten some of the daffodil buds and they say nothing eat daffodils. My deer did not get that memo.

That's when they become dinner 🍴

On the deer problems, Cinta and Annette. Did someone say venison for dinner? That sounds like a great resolution. I wonder why the hunters are looking in the woods, when they can just sit in our yards/garden beds and wait fort the deer to come to dine. It seems like that would be so much easier.