I'm in Kelso and I planted mine in balcony boxes and put them outside. I've never done this before so I'm just hoping for good results, but the sale prices were too hard to pass up.

Put 'em in your garage & wait for Monday. It'll be unfrozen by then. Get your rain slickers ready. ;)
- Tom

I'm up in the foothills S.E. of Seattle. I expect snow first, then turning to rain. I've had enough of this cold, dry weather. I am getting a lot of pruning done however.

Dutch bulbs in containers will be killed by these temperatures, unless the containers are well covered with bark or mulch or carpeting, etc.

Yes. The ground is frozen. Wait til next week when it thaws out, then plant your bulbs.

I have purchased bulbs and then potted them in potting soil and left them outside without protection so that I can plant them into the garden when they are in bloom because I have so many others. I have done this multiple years, including last year when we had all the snow. I have about twenty pots out there now left from this year that I didn't get planted.

I had bulbs in pots come through last winter just fine, too.

Well then, I must have imagined those 1300 pots full of gooey, slimy, rotting bulbs back in the spring of 1986, after a 10 degree freeze during the winter. And they were even covered with straw, but not enough. Survival rate: 0%. By the way, the snow doesn't kill bulbs in pots; it protects them by acting as mulch. It's the low temperature and the fast rate of freezing and thawing that are lethal.

What kind of Dutch bulbs is critical to the point here.

I lost tulips, daffs, crocus, bulbous iris, colchicum, Fritillaria imperialis and meleagris, oriental hybrid lilies, trumpet lilies, and many of the little bulbs like Chionodoxa, etc. It was my entire collection. I had no garden that year to plant them in, so they were in pots. Since then, I have learned to mulch them heavily, and I get 100% survival.

I haven't gotten around to shop much, where did you find the bulbs 75% off?

Let me add my voice to those who have successfully grown containerized bulbs through winter without problems. If the bulbs have been planted early enough to develop a root system, freezing weather/soil is not going to be a concern. They withstand cold temperatures more severe than that in the ground in many areas and containerized bulbs are pretty popular in areas that experience much colder winter temps than we do here in the PNW. If rotting occurs it is far more likely that saturated container soil or improper drainage was the culprit rather than the cold. For that reason, I have always stored my containerized bulbs out of the weather, either on a covered porch or in my carport. No cold protection or mulch.....just out of the rain. They've always been fine, even through last season's extended deep freeze.

However, planting in a container now does pose some concerns. Until planted, the bulbs don't develop roots and I'd be cautious about exposing freshly planted bulbs (rootless) to the type of cold weather we are experiencing now. OTOH, it won't hurt to just hold the bulbs in a cool dark area until the soil thaws sufficiently to plant, in the next few days. Once they are safely tucked into the ground, they'll be fine.

Yes, many of the kinds listed come from climates with very cold winters or are derived from species growing in them. The development of a bulb that allows the plant to live for most of the year with no foliage is a response to spring being the only time of the year when conditions above ground are suitable for foliage and flowers to be present.

Many hardy bulbs are also able to use the bulb as a reproductive organ, surviving being uprooted and moved about, broken into pieces. In the climate here partially or completely unearthed bulbs may be seen sprouting after spending sometimes months out of the ground.

If the bulb collection was in squat or shallow containers ("bulb pans") there may have been soggy potting medium around or just beneath them when it was cold. When the top half of a planted container is moist, the bottom half may be wet - due to how water drains through a column of soil when there is a container bottom beneath it. The bottom half does not drain until field capacity (saturation) is reached, due to water not readily crossing from one texture into another. When the water encounters the bottom of the pot, it backs up until the potting material above it is almost flooded, then rushes out.

my guess is that your ground isn't 'frozen' very deep! (i stared gardening in zone 3,so it takes a lot to convince me it is really frozen) get your narrow spade out and dig! I would plant them outside in the ground. the effort will be worth it when april rolls around..

For what it's worth, my bulbs that survived in pots last winter were in deep pots.

My youngest son's birthday is the day before Halloween. I don't know what made me think I could plant bulbs that fall. I was too big before he was born,and too busy afterward. The bulbs I'd ordered in a fit of madness didn't get planted until February. They came up late, but they came up. They bloomed normally in the years after, too. Bulbs are remarkably tough.

Now,stop trying to tell me the bulbs I spent a small fortune on are doomed, Lilydude!

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses. I actually just finally planted some of my bulbs today and will finish with the rest tomorrow. I am being optimistic as I am so ready for spring.
By the way, I bought them at Lowe's. Pink Pride Daffodils, Happy Generation, Merry-Go-Round and Creme Upstar Tulips.

The other day I found a bag of bulbs not planted yet. Had thought I had finally gotten them all in a few weeks ago. During the last round of planting there was some decay and molding discovered, a couple kinds had losses of about half of the bulbs. Think packaging them in plastic bags was the problem, air holes used still not being enough.

Might be a need for supplier to increase sanitation also.