THOSE BLOOMIN’ CROCUS
It’s amazing to me how everyone who grows tomato plants tries to be the first one on the block with the earliest tomato and yet when we plant bulbs, we are not happy to see the crocus blooming in February or even as early as January. After all, isn’t the reason for planting spring bulbs is to get early blooming flowers while it is still too cold for other garden plants? And where is that competitiveness when it comes to bulbs. Can’t you now brag, “Hey look at me! I have the first flowers in bloom this year!”
The other concern that you have is that if the bulbs are growing this early and even budding up, what will happen if, and when it turns cold again? Normally you have nothing to worry about. Only one time in the last 34 years that I paid attention did a cold spell really do damage to a bulb crop. The problem was that it was very late in the winter season such as April when all of the bulb foliage was growing and the flower buds were ready to bloom. Then the temperature dropped to 15 degrees below zero. This is way too cold for April and especially damaging to everyones bulbs. Fruit trees also aborted their fruit, tulips and hyacinths aborted their flowers and that was that for that year.
Remember bulb gardens really prefer cool to cold weather and that snow is actually a protective warming blanket for perennials as snow is around 32 degrees and the covering keeps colder temperatures from getting to your plants. These warm spells cause the foliage to grow but usually the flower buds are not developed enough to be damaged this early in the season and crocus must be as tough as nails as no amount of cold weather seems to affect them.
> Read More Information About Us
> More Articles Written By Our Staff
- Little River Wetlands Names New Executive Director - May 10, 2024
- Local Writer Irons Out Devotional Inspired By Mother’s Day Gift - May 10, 2024
- Sharing Plants & Local Food - May 10, 2024