Many gardeners take it for granted that bulbs bloom when it is time, and nothing will cause them to bloom earlier. There are, however, planting practices that will hurry to flower from a few days to three weeks or more.
These practices are especially worthwhile for those so tired of a flowerless winter garden that they can hardly wait for the first spring bloom.
Daffodils, tulips, crocuses, and most other kinds of spring-blooming bulbs come in early, midseason, and late varieties.
It is easier to get an early bloom from an early variety than from midseason or late kinds, but any variety can be caused to bloom ahead of its normal time.
Easiest Way To Hurrying Bloom
The easiest way to hurry bloom in the garden is by planting bulbs along the south side of a house, wall, fence, slope, stone, or anything else that offers protection on the north side.
Given any other exposure, they will bloom earlier than other bulbs of the same variety.
A daffodil planted in front of a basement window on the south side of a house will bloom earlier than others in the same row because of the heat reflected from the glass. Some varieties bloom as much as three weeks early with such planting.
The bulb for which south-side planting is most important is probably the crocus because so much of its garden value is its earliness.
Crocuses planted on a slope facing south will bloom considerably earlier than the same variety planted on the lawn—the steeper the slope, the earlier the bloom.
In my garden, I had repeatedly had crocuses planted against the south side of a tree to finish blooming before the same variety in the lawn opened its first buds.
Time of Bloom
The time of bloom is also influenced by the depth of planting. The depth recommended for most bulbs is three times the bulb’s diameter, though the Madonna lily and certain other bulbs are exceptions to the rule.
Planting at less than the recommended depth tends to hurry and bloom from one to several days in spring bulbs, much more in the case of some late summer bulbs.
Spring bulbs given very shallow planting are often heaved out of the ground during thawing weather, but strong growing kinds show no apparent injury if the gardener promptly shoves them back into place.
Only strong-growing bulbs should be given shallow planting. Bulbs of questionable hardiness should be planted at the recommended depth.
This is particularly true, for example, of tulips in those parts of the country where it is an achievement to get them to bloom for more than a single season or even for that one season.
An important incidental effect of shallow planting is a rapid increase in bulbs. In many localities, a daffodil bulb planted at half the usual depth will produce a hundred or more bulbs in a dozen years.
Most bulbs will be too small to bloom but can be grown to flowering in a year or two if the clump is lifted, separated, and the bulbs replanted.
Tulips, hyacinths, and other bulbs tend to increase more quickly with shallow planting than at the usual depth, but not at the rate of daffodils.
Hurrying bloom by shallow planting is particularly worthwhile for spring-planted lilies such as speciosum.
Lilies should, of course, be planted in the fall, but it is in spring that stores display a wealth of irresistible-looking lily bulbs.
If the gardener selects firm, compact bulbs that are heavy for their size and gives them shallow planting, they should bloom safely ahead of frost. If planted at the recommended depth in the spring, comparatively few will bloom the first fall.
A covering of 2” inches is usually enough for speciosum lilies planted in the spring. The shallow planting does the bulb itself no good.
On the other hand, it does no great harm if the bulbs are lifted at their first fall and quickly replanted at the usual depth.
Feeding Fertilizer
Feeding with liquid fertilizer will hurry the flowering of most bulbs by some days, provided the feeding is started after flower buds show. If started too early, the feeding may cause the bulb to grow extra leaves at the expense of bloom.
Any soluble fertilizer can be made into liquid fertilizer by dissolving it in water. Insoluble fertilizers such as barnyard manure should be put in a barrel or other coverable container with plenty of water.
After standing ten days or longer, the water will be an excellent liquid fertilizer that may be diluted to the color of weak tea before application.
Any liquid fertilizer should be applied to the ground around the bulb and should avoid touching the stem or foliage.
A cupful of the bulb or clump of bulbs is enough. Applications may be made at weekly intervals. Results are best if the application is followed by heavy watering. The quickest-acting stimulant readily available is nitrate in soda.
It should be used only in solutions because too much will kill any plant quickly. Fortunately, only so much—approximately a tablespoonful to a gallon—will dissolve in water no matter how vigorously the gardener may stir.
This strength is safe to use at the rate of a small cupful to the bulb or clump of bulbs, provided it does not touch stem or foliage and is well watered. A single application should hurry to bloom in three or more days.
Heating Ground
Heating the ground will hurry the bloom, provided it is not overdone. The popular method is using a low voltage current of electricity conducted by buried soil heating cables.
This method probably offers the most pleasant possible garden work for the family’s technically inclined teenager.
It is possible to hurry to bloom by using electricity almost as much as by the old hotbed. During sunny weather, the ground heats in the daytime.
Any method of holding that heat in the ground after the sun goes down will hasten bloom. Night covering is the common method.
Fabric caps or cloches, wood boxes or baskets, corrugated paper cartons—all are useful where just a few bulbs are concerned.
A strawberry box is large enough to cover a crocus, and a bushel basket will cover a sizable clump of daffodils or tulips.
An old rug or quilt may, in turn, cover the box or basket. One point to watch is that the foliage should not touch the covering.
Mulching
Mulching can be managed to influence the time of bloom by a couple of days or more. Early removal of mulch will hurry the flowers to bloom a little.
Often it is safest to remove it in installments rather than remove all of the heavy mulch at once.
Year Long Bulbs
Bulbs that have been in the garden a year or longer will bloom ahead of the same variety given similar planting the previous fall. Therefore, gardeners may expect an earlier bloom a year than the first spring after planting.
To sum up: in general, the earliest bloom term can be expected from an early variety established in the garden for a year or more, planted at a shallow depth on the south side of the house in front of a basement window, and given night covering and proper feeding of liquid fertilizer.
44659 by Maud R. Jacobs