The Absolute Best Time Of Year To Plant Spring-Blooming Bulbs In Your Garden

Gardening is a great hobby to have because it not only makes your home look happier and brighter, but it is also incredibly rewarding to cultivate and take care of beautiful living plants. However, if you are just starting your gardening journey, you should be aware of all the common mistakes that beginner gardeners make – including planting their flowers too early or too late. Even for experienced gardeners, this mistake is easy to make when dealing with perennial plants that will come back year after year, and especially with those that grow from bulbs. This happens because, unlike most garden plants, spring-blooming bulbs need to be planted in the fall so they can be in the ground all winter.

The reason for this is that these bulbs need to go through a long period of cold temperatures in order to start the chemical process that causes them to grow. This means that if you don't plant them in the fall, the bulbs will never awaken from their dormancy to start growing in spring. Because of this, spring-blooming bulb flowers are sometimes called "fall bulbs" and they include commonly beloved spring flowers like tulips, snowdrops, crocuses, hyacinths, daffodils, peonies, and ornamental alliums (which can also help keep voles out of your garden). 

If you are considering starting some spring-blooming bulbs this fall, then you should also know that you need to be careful about planting the bulbs too early in the fall season. This is important because, if you plant the bulbs too early when the soil is still too warm, you can cause the bulbs to overheat and become damaged leading to deformed flowers or flowers that never pop up. On the other hand, planting bulbs too late when the ground is already hard is near impossible. Plus, late planting may not provide your bulbs enough time in the cold as most spring bulbs need around 10 to 13 weeks in the ground in temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit to activate their growth.

As a general rule, the best time to plant spring-blooming bulbs is around six to eight weeks before the first hard frost is expected. For growing zones four and five, that's sometime around mid-October. For the warmer zones the planting time is even later — typically around November. However, as weather varies year to year and sometimes hard frosts appear earlier than expected, a good general rule is to plant your bulbs as soon as ground temperatures are consistently between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

We've all been there when you just get busy and the time slips away, or you get hit with a particularly harsh winter and early freeze and just don't manage to get your spring-blooming bulbs in the ground beforehand. So, what can you do in this situation?

Unfortunately, the problem with bulb flowers is that they are difficult to properly store at home. Because of this, most unplanted bulbs go bad and begin to rot or dry out before you get the chance to plant them next season. So, if you didn't manage to plant your bulbs in before the first freeze, the best thing you can do is wait for one of those unexpected warm days in February when the ground thaws and try to get your bulbs into the ground at that time. Although, with this method, it is possible that not all of your flowers will pop up in the spring, you will at least be able to get some flowers to pop up and avoid wasting all of your bulbs.

Alternatively, you can try and plant your bulbs in the early spring. If you choose this option, it is important to cover the bulbs in a layer of mulch to keep the soil cool. Also, with this option, you should know that the flowers will likely not grow until the following spring (although some flowers may pop up in summer — if you are lucky).