Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
yellowthumbs

When to plant bulbs...?

yellowthumbs
15 years ago

Hello,

I just bought some Peony and Hosta bulbs. They already have about an inch of green shoots that are coming up so I think I should probably plant them soon (how long can they live out of soil?); however, I am worried about what will happen if it snows again before the summer. It is 70 degrees today but being Colorado could snow tomorrow. Will it kill my bulbs if I plant them and they start to send up shoots and then it snows or goes below freezing?

Thank you in advance - I have never gardened with bulbs before and can use all the advice I can get!

Comments (3)

  • david52 Zone 6
    15 years ago

    It sounds as if they've come out of dormancy, so you can either pot them up and keep them in a garage or somewhere and let them grow, and then transplant them out in May, or plant them now, water them in, and then mulch a few inches of something on top.

    I don't know about Hostas, but peonies will take a frost pretty well.

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    15 years ago

    Hi (Soon-to-be-Green) Thumbs,

    Welcome to RMG! WeÂre glad you found us!

    Just about a week ago there was a thread that addressed pretty much this same topic. HereÂs a link to it! When you read it, just include the hosta in with any info about the peonies. Since weÂre going into a cold spell right now, IÂd recommend waiting till we get back to more warm weather to actually plant them. ItÂll be a lot easier on you, and itÂll give the plants a few days to settle in before it gets cold againÂif it DOES get cold again! To keep them from growing anymore until you can plant themÂand to harden them off as recommended in the linked threadÂstick them in the fridge! ThatÂll slow down any new growth and get them ready to go out in the ground. Once theyÂve been hardened off, they should be fine after you plant them in the ground. If you have any questions after youÂve read the linked thread, just let us know. And a heads up about the hosta! Just so you donÂt freak out when you donÂt see them coming up, hosta is one of the last things to come up in springÂso when youÂre waiting, andwaitingandwaitingandwaiting, donÂt think you did something wrong! Just wait for them! Oh, something else I didnÂt mention in the other thread, hosta will do much better if theyÂre in soil with quite a bit of organic matter, so (assuming you have clay!) Mix in a pretty good amount of moist Canadian peat or a good quality organic compost into the soil when you plant them. The peonies will do better with a fair amount of organic matter too.

    One other thingÂand this may be WAY more than you want to know at this pointÂbut just to give you a good start, peonies and hosta arenÂt technically "bulbs." The bare root things you have (probably in a little bit of peat moss in a plastic bag) are just "roots." HereÂs a link to a site with some good basic bulb info. It explains the difference between bulbs, corms, rhizomes, etc! If you look at it and your brain goes Bzzzzzzzz, just skip it for now! It kind of falls into the "nice to know" but donÂt "need to know" category! ;-)

    Again, welcome, and if you have a chance, sign in on the WhoÂs Here thread and tell us a little bit about yourself.

    Skybird

    P.S. I just saw David and I are talking over each other! As long as they're hardened off pretty well before you put them out, I don't think the new growth they have already will be seriously damaged after you put them out. It might get singed a little bit, but they'll recover from that. Almost all of my perennials are coming up already this year with the warm weather we've had down here. A nice thick mulch for a few weeks would definitely help protect them until it gets a little bit closer to "real" spring.

  • yellowthumbs
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thank you both David and Skybird for your advice - it was very helpful! I am so excited and can't wait to plant my new... plants! :)

    Yellowthumbs