Overwintering Bulbs

Fearless Gardener Bonnie Blodgett discusses the positives - and negatives - of a little special treatment for your bulbs.

 

Overwintering Bulbs

Why do gardeners who think nothing of replacing a thousand tulip bulbs every fall blanch at the thought of digging up proven performers that merely ask to spend the winter in the basement?

Maybe we’re put off by the over-detailed care instructions we find online. One year I spent a whole day gathering supplies from various garden centers and creating perfect little homes for a dozen dahlia tubers, only to find come spring that the ones I’d tossed into a box did just as well as the rest. Your main goal is to give them a warmer place to live (but not too warm—that’s the tricky part) and a bit of moisture. Peat, vermiculite, or sand all work as a storage medium. Use plastic wrap to hold in moisture, and dust your tubers with an anti-fungal powder.

If the plant is growing in a pot, the whole mess can go into the basement (after you cut back the leaves and stems to the soil level). If you have a sunny window and a green thumb, you might want to keep some growing as houseplants.

Do get instructions on how to prepare your bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers for spring planting. Good luck!

—B.B.

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