Okay I have a stupid gardening question....I am a very novice gardener....in fact this is the first year I have had a garden....this is what happens when you take the city girl out of the highrise in Chicago and drop her smack dab in the middle of suburbia in St. Louis.

Last fall as a birthday present to me my hubby and I planted 150 bulbs.....tulips, irises, daffidols......now they have all come up and bloomed.....what now? I feel silly not having anything but green leaves in two of my flower beds for the rest of the season.

Do I did up the bulbs....or simply cut off the leaves....will it harm the bulbs to plant other flowers on top? I know I need to go get a gardening book or two....but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ok diane, dig up those bulbs,, throw them in a bucket and store in your garage till next season... stay away from bamboo, and blackberries,,, they'll take over your garden... how does a guy with salt water in his veins know this? darn saturday morning home inprovement shows... :shock: :mrgreen:

Dig them up???? I don't think so!!!! The only bulbs that I might dig up (but don't usually bother to do) are bulbs or tubers that won't live overwinter. But NOT the ones you mentioned

Diane, you need to let the foliage stay until it dies on its own. They need the energy from the leaf growth for next year's blooms. After the foliage turns yellow or brown, you can cut it off. Iris foliage usually stays till winter though, but they're tubers, not bulbs.

I just plant perennials in the same spaces or really close. They usually come up later than the bulbs. If you dig up a bulb by mistake, just say oops and replant it. Won't hurt anything unless you've cut it in half with a shovel.

hi foxtail,,, so your saying i should leave my iris bulbs in the ground all winter.?.. i usually wait till they die off and dig them up, then plant again next season... thanks for the tip... :D

Like a mistreated plant I bring this thread back from the dead.......................

I wouldn't dig them up. My mother and I planted tulip bulbs about 14 years ago, and they have re-appeared every spring since Spring 1995. I don't recall ever having cut the tops off. We just allow them to go through their natural life cycle.

I don't have a solution for your barren flower beds, unless you want to get containers, and plant mums and cabbage for the fall. I wouldn't plant additional flowers over the bulbs.

I wouldn't dig them up. My mother and I planted tulip bulbs about 14 years ago, and they have re-appeared every spring since Spring 1995.

I don't have a solution for your barren flower beds. Unless you want to get containers, and plant mums and cabbage for the fall.

Chica, didn't you look, the last post was 5 years ago!...........

Chica, didn't you look, the last post was 5 years ago!...........

No, I didn't. I rarely pay attention to the date of the OP. I just add a comment if I am able to provide an intelligent response.:grin:

Perhaps someone coming along who has a similar question as the person who posted five years ago will benefit from my response.

Orangee's on a rampage bringing back the old dead posts, he's sorta like a......, like a...........zombie maker:cool:

Bulbs. Someone had to mention bulbs. Aaarrrgh! :twisted:

We're the second owner of a house we've been in for the past three years, and we're in the process of fixing it up to rent. The original owner/builder was in it for 40 years, and in her later years - I swear - must have belonged to some manner of "bulb of the month" club.

There was this 5' strip of flower garden the length of the driveway that was absolutely full of bulbs and irises. It was a total maintenance nightmare - the bulbs had to go. I paid our semi-resident teenager $300 to dig up and screen the bulbs out of the soil. It was a month of weekends, and he filled two composing bags with bulbs. Just bulbs and iris rhizomes. I got the better end of the deal, believe me. What a friggin' mess.

Hey there
I agree with not digging up the bulbs, I never dig mine up here where it's colder however, do let the leaves die back, and sometimes to make the garden appear tidy, as dying back leaves look messy, one can tie the leaves in a knot, it just gives a cleaned up appearance.

I also plant things so they come up in rotation throughout the summer, and into fall. Do you have any bugs that are pests. I also use battery operated mole chases. The batteries last a very long time and it works in my yard.

Like others have said NO BAMBOO. It's invasive.

I also add some small low growing bushes to add the dimension so the garden has different heights to it. It's the height between flowers and trees.

If you have moles and underground pests, put wire down or bulbs in a wire cage then plant them. They way, pest cannot eat and live off the bulbs all winter.
Slugs, got any? Put a saucer of beer out.

Regards,
jurn

Great Tips.
I plant tulip bulbs every year . I love them but they never come back. I have been given lots of iris bulbs and others recently. Does it matter when i plant them? Can I plant them now for next year?

Forgot to ask which bulbs/flowers bloom in fall?

Forgot to ask which bulbs/flowers bloom in fall?

Joy,
I've had good luck with any of the fall crocus's also Red Spider Lily and a Pink Resurrection Lily

Thanks. Thats good news cause I was given some Pink Lilys. Better put em in now. I also got a box of German Irises.

If you want to do some seed/plant trading this is a wonderful site:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/

One idea would be to dig it all up and plan out a new bed that is better planned for year round blooming perinnials. Day lillies and canna-lillies are good late season bloomers that will fill in after your spring flowers have all bloomed. Maybe put a few annuals infront and use the greenery as backdrop. Weather you pull them out every year has to do with which grow zone you are in. In MT we are mostly zones 4-5. I have to pull up the cannas every year and store them in peat moss in the basement. Good luck I am learning too.

Oh Yes, the Canna lillies are really nice but I grew tired of digging them up every fall. Eventually, I found myself saying to them one fall day, "well, guys, it's the fittest who will survive,. I just can't do it again" (digging them up).

The bulbs (lillies, iris and others) can be planted from Sept on here in Northern CT. We get cold winters but they do well.

I also use to lose the tulips but the cage works, home made, BUT if you have deer, they'll come along and snip off your flowers anyway. Then spraying becomes a weekly chore....jeeeze, always something.

jurn

El-Mt
Good idea! Every year I say I'm going to prepare the bed in front of the house to bloom continuously. I 've even got the list of plants and their location drawn out ( somewhere around here) but so far havent gotten around to it. Come spring, I just head to the nursery and buy what I like. It would be nice to have them come up without my help (except weeding)every year.

Short of moving to Cali :) I think the bulbs will be a nice addition. I dont have deer, just neighborhood cats:)