it’s Not too late to plant tulips!
So you know how you’re supposed to plant tulips ‘in the Fall’ for Spring flowers?
What does that actually mean? When is it too late to plant? Why are you planting them when it’s about to become the coldest part of the year?
Bulbs are mostly pretty easy, but you might have a few questions (….and a bag of bulbs on your kitchen counter that you keep meaning to plant).
Here’s the good news!
In our climate (Victoria BC, zone 8b), you can literally plant them on Christmas Eve and still get flowers in Spring.
Our soil almost never freezes, and as long as you’re willing to get out there in the cold for an hour to put the promise of colour into the ground you will be rewarded for your efforts. Of course, you can plant them any time after Halloween if you’re on top of things, but for those of you still waiting, you’re all good.
Tulip bulbs need to ‘vernalize’ (be in a chilled environment between 2-10 degrees celsius) for 10-16 weeks. That cold nap is part of their life cycle. The switch from that cold into warmer Spring temperatures is like an alarm clock that triggers the bulb to send up it’s first leaves in Spring! Without that cold dormancy period it wouldn’t know when to wake up and grow.
Here in Victoria the coldest part of the year is between November-February. That’s 16 weeks of the perfect conditions! The latest you could plant them and still get flowers would be that limbo week between Christmas and New Years. Note that for those of you in colder climates, you’d need to plant your bulbs earlier in the Fall before the ground freezes.
Tulip planting tips coming soon…
What’s your plan for tulips this year?
xo - Renée
