The great bulb experiment of 2008

A few weeks ago, I found some bulbs in the garage. I had forgotten to plant them in the fall and it now being truly winter, I wasn't sure what to do. I consulted Carol at May Dreams Gardens, a fellow Indianapolis gardener (who is much more knowledgeable than I).

Would they survive? Should I plant them? Should I force them? Should I just save them for next year? Should I throw them away or into the compost pile?

Mind you this is when we had about an inch of ice on the ground and the high a few days before was 15. She said if it warmed up enough to thaw the ground before Christmas, she'd suggest planting them. If it didn't warm enough, try to force them in a container.

As luck would have it, there was one glorious day of 45 degree weather! Not that warm, but maybe just enough to get them into the ground to see what would become of these forgotten pretties.


I got the bulbs in the ground. They had already started to grow in the garage. On the left you see muscari. These are what I most concerned about in terms of living. They seemed a bit dry and brittle.

I planted these under the sugar gum tree in the back where I had planted some tulips earlier in the fall.



The minnow daffodils on the left were starting to grow as well, but they are larger so I'm not as concerned about these. Some of these went in the back by the butterfly bush and other are in front of some hostas in front of the fence. I also planted some wood hyacinths and a few other small bulbs in front of the lilac bushes.





And that is the great bulb experiment of 2008. We shall see if they bloom come spring time (that is of course if the squirrels haven't dug them all up)! It will be a big surprise, too, when they do appear because I certainly didn't plan where everything went.