Putting in the bulb

You want the nose, or growing point, to point up and the roots, or basal plate from which they’ll grow, to point down. (If you can’t tell, plant the bulb on its side — the plant will figure it out in due course! Botanists call this nifty skill gravitropism.) Make sure the bottom of the bulb is in contact with soil; if you leave an air pocket, the roots can dry out and the bulb won’t grow or won’t grow very well.
As you scoop soil back into the hole, firmly press it in place to prevent
air pockets. Water well (some settling will occur) and then add a bit
more soil as needed. Indicate where you’ve planted your bulbs so you don’t plant other flowers in
the same place. Mark the locations with perm

Adding a fertilizer for bulbs

Use a fertilizer that has a higher phosphorus number, such as a 5-10-5 fertilizer Phosphorus (the P in the N-P-K on fertilizer labels) is important for the root growth as well as flower production. Just sprinkle the fertilizer in the bottom of the hole and scratch it in so it mixes with the soil a bit. If the ground is bone dry, water a day or so before planting so the ground is damp but not muddy when you’re planting the bulbs. If you want to wait to fertilize, you can scratch the fertilizer into the surface of the soil in the spring as the bulbs are growing.

Digging the hole for Bulbs

photography by Margaret MacGillivray of http://www.plantsforprofit.com

If you’re planting only a few bulbs or you’re spot-planting (tucking bulbs in among other plants in a mixed bed), use a trowel. Various bulb planters are on the market, but frankly, I don’t find them very useful unless the soil is loose. If you’re planting lots of bulbs, break out the shovel and make a trench.
Not all bulbs are the same size, so not all bulbs should be planted the same depth. The general rule is three times as deep as the bulb’s height. This guideline varies a bit based on your soil type. In sandier soils, you can plant a little deeper; in heavy clay soils, a little shallower. If you forget how deep to plant your bulbs, consult the supplier’s label or catalog. Too shallow, and your bulbs may poke their heads above the soil surface too early and get damaged by wintry weather; too deep, and they’ll take longer to emerge.
Roots grow out of the bottom of the bulb, so the quality of the soil underneath it is more important than what you pack the hole with. If you’re amending the soil with organic material like compost or sphagnum moss, dig somewhat deeper-than-recommended holes so you can accommodate this addition. Distance apart varies with the type of bulb and the sort of display you have in mind. If you crowd the bulbs underground, the eventual show may suffer. Certainly, don’t let the bulbs touch one another. The general rule is at least three bulb-widths apart “on center” (from the center of one bulb to the center of the next). But experience can tell you what the bulbs you’ve chosen tolerate and how dense you like your displays.

Naturalizing: Plants gone wild

Naturalizing is just a gardening term (and a rather sensible one, actually) to describe bulbs usually planted in large informal drifts, where they remain undisturbed and multiply. You can naturalize in a grassy area, under fruit trees or other deciduous trees, at the edge of a wooded area, or on an embankment. You want a semiwild area, because the bulb foliage should be able to die down undisturbed after the plants finish blooming. Over time, the bulbs tend to increase their numbers, spreading out the show with each passing year, with virtually no effort from you.
To begin, invest in a large amount of good-quality bulbs. On planting day, literally toss them out over the chosen area and plant them where they land. This display ends up looking more spontaneous and, well, natural.

Planting Bulbs in Containers

Growing bulbs in containers handily solves every display problem. Individual plants can get exactly the sort of soil and planting depth they prefer. When the bulbs come into bloom, you can place them front and center on your porch or patio or even tuck them into a flowerbed and enjoy them at their peak. You can turn or elevate the container to show off the flowers to best advantage. And when the blooms and foliage begin to fade away, you can move the plants out of sight and replace them with pots of fresh reinforcements. Something about a potful of blooming bulbs is so immediate and perky.
They’re right before your very eyes, cheerily delivering their jolt of color. You can line your front steps with them or place a pot in the middle of the patio table, like a living bouquet.
Pots dry out faster than garden-bed soil. Keep your potted bulbs watered. Consistent water (that is, every day or two instead only when the plants are gasping) leads to a healthier, longer-lasting show. Also, if you’re in a cold climate, be sure to pot your bulbs in containers that can freeze without breaking, like plastic.
One drawback: In most climates, bulbs grown in containers are spent after one blooming cycle. If you enjoyed them, you have to start over next year with fresh new bulbs, unless the pot is large enough for the bulbs to go through their dormancy and remain in good health.

Planting Bulbs in Flowerbeds

Flowering bulbs are very happy in prepared flowerbeds. They receive the good, loose soil they relish and the elbow room they need. Here are two good approaches:

• Bedding schemes: Perhaps you’ve seen these beds in public display gardens: broad areas devoted to nothing but, say, tulips. The mass of color can be very impressive. You can prepare these flowerbeds at home. Pick a nice, open spot, choose a large amount of the same or very similar bulbs (in terms of color, height, and/or bloom time), and plant them fairly close together.
• Mixed beds: Bulbs are only part of the show in a mixed bed; they can share the stage with early-blooming perennials, some colorful annuals, and perhaps a few sheltering shrubs. The overall show never declines: Whether you’re waiting for the bulbs to burst into bloom or waiting for their fading foliage to die down, you always have something to look at and enjoy.

Keeping your cool: The skinny on forcing bulbs

Forcing bulbs may sound cruel, but the term merely means that you’re encouraging the plants to bloom early by treating them in a special way. You can force potted bulbs into early bloom, but they still need 8 to 16 weeks to chill (generally the larger the bulb, the longer the chilling time). Place the bulbs in the fridge, in an unheated garage that doesn’t freeze, on chilly basement stairs, or in a cold frame (a wooden or concrete block box buried in the outside soil during the cold months). Some of the easiest and most popular bulbs to force are paperwhites.
As soon as you pot the bulbs you want to force, you have to keep them cool and the soil lightly damp. If the soil dries out, their roots won’t form, and if the temperatures are too warm, the flower buds in the bulbs may end up being blind or will blast (they’ll shrivel and never develop into full blossoms).
Forcing spring bulbs has two stages, and the first is the rooting period. For the rooting stage, place the potted bulbs in any cool (40–50°F), dark spot for 10 to 16 weeks. Some varieties take longer than others. Don’t worry if the temperatures aren’t in this range every day; the temperature range is just the ideal. The important point is that the bulbs are in a cool, not freezing, place to root. A refrigerator is perfect. Tip: Before moving the potted bulbs to the next stage, look at the drainage holes in the pots. Roots should be growing out of the holes; if they aren’t, put the potted bulbs back into a cool, dark area until they are. One of the most common ways people fail in this game is by not allowing the bulbs to root sufficiently before going to the next stage. Alternatively, the bulbs may be ready to come out of the big chill when you see at least an inch of top growth and the bulbs don’t move when you try to wiggle them by hand. After the bulbs are well-rooted, you can move them to the growing-on phase, where the foliage starts to grow and the eventually bulb blooms. First, you want the bulbs to adjust to warmer temperatures and higher light, so place the rooted bulbs in their containers in a cool, bright spot that’s around 60°F for a few weeks. Remember to keep the soil lightly moist. Next, move the bulbs to an area that’s slightly warmer — mid to high 60s — and very bright to finish the plant’s growing-on cycle. A sunny, south-facing windowsill is fine. Turn the pots a quarter turn each day; otherwise, the stems will lean toward the light. You can also place the bulbs so their foliage is a few inches from a two-tube, or preferably four-tube, fluorescent light fixture.
The bulbs should bloom in about three to four weeks. The blossoms will last longer if you move the bulbs to a spot that’s cool (in the lower 60s) and not quite as bright (without direct sunlight).