Planted late?

Most likely they froze during that week of bitter cold in December. I lost ALL my bulbs and garlic that were IN POTS. The bulbs and garlic in the ground did fine.

They were planted in October. I never would have thought daffodil bulbs would freeze but that must have been it.

Inspect the bulbs for visual clues.

Unless the pots were quite small, freezing is unlikely to be an issue - poor drainage probably is. Most potting soils tend to be rather moisture retentive and with the limited ability of excess water to drain out, the soil is frequently saturated in our winters. The bulbs rot.

You can use a very barky/highly textured, freely draining potting soil (discussed at length on the Container Gardening forum) or just keep the containers out of the weather or under cover. If you water well when first planted, that should be sufficient to see them through the winter. Unless kept indoors, evaporation of the soil moisture will be minimal.

There's always a perched water table in the bottom halves of pots, due to water hesitating when the pot bottom is encountered, not rushing out until field capacity (saturation) is reached. Squat or short pots may have a very shallow upper half of unaffected soil for the plants to live in.

That's why the bottom half of the soil columns in pots occupied by types (common example: rhododendrons and azaleas) requiring high levels of soil aeration may be discovered to be unoccupied by roots when knocking the plants out for planting.

Is it possible to grow tulips and daffodils from bulbs that I've dug out after my purchased blooming tulips and daffodils have died down? I live in Hawaii, and I know they need some cold hibernation time, but don't know what the process is. Does anyone winter their bulbs in the refrigerator? Any suggestions? I have wonderful memories of walking to UW along the Burke-Gilman in spring, enjoying the new blooms. Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions!

It may make more sense just to repurchase new bulbs each year. Forced bulbs - those that are typically offered as containerized plantings - are more difficult to achieve a satisfactory rebloom from than are fresh, new bulbs, especially if they cannot go through a normal inground vernalization process. And while your climate is ideal for a lot of things, it is just not well-suited to most spring flowering bulbs......you are going to have to go to some extra work :-)

Some vendors offer pre-chilled bulbs that are ready to plant in warm climates or you can go through the chilling process yourself in a refrigerator. Most spring flowering bulbs needs around 12 weeks of cold. And you need to avoid storing with any fruits or vegetables that can emit ethylene gasses that destroy flowering.

Do some searching on spring flowering bulbs for warmer climates - most will have tips on best varieties as well as how to go about the chilling process.

I had the same thoughts.

Gardengal and bboy, sitting in a tree....

Sorry, too much coffee this morning.

Rain

I live in Texas and I put my bulbs in a mini refrigerator to chill before planting. My wonder husband got it for me so he could have his refrigerator back. Otherwise we don't have fruits or vegetables for 12 weeks while my bulbs are chilling. I just leave the bulbs in the bags they came in and plop them in the refrigerator. I rotate them every once in a while, but that is more for my benefit than theirs. (I have to look at them because I'm so excited about what they will look like the next spring)

You may also want to learn about Narcissus bulb fly. See the link. Did your bulbs form roots?

I believe the sharp freeze in December may have killed them. I had the same experience many years ago. In my case, I know it wasn't drainage, since I was using a very open bark-based mix. Often it isn't the temperature alone that kills plants; it's the rate of change of temperature. If the temperature drops from 45F to 12F in one day, and then from 12F to 40F in one day, a lot of plants are going to die.

(Gardenweb, this Biotrue popup ad is absolutely unbearable.)

Here is a link that might be useful: narcissus bulb fly

I can say one of the things I like about moving to Colo from the west coast is the ability to grow spring bulbs. We plant them and stand back. First time in my adult life I can do that.

Dan

I had at least a dozen pots of daffs and tulips outside with no protection, some 4" and some 6" and they are all fine. I used Black Gold All Purpose potting soil.

I routinely buy bulbs in the fall, pot them up, shove them into the pot ghetto and then plant them into the garden when the other bulbs are up so I don't chop into the clumps that are already there and so I can design my color schemes easier.