Tulip bulbs - plant BEFORE or AFTER the first frost?

[AntiqueBooks]

Hello

I'm seeing conflicting info re this.

After the first frost to minimise Tulip Fire or before the first frost to give them enough time to put roots down before the hard part of winter?

Where do you stand on this debate?!

Thanks

Welcome Tulip Growers! Whether from Amsterdam, Edinburgh or elsewhere!

Yes, I'll be interested to see if my bulbs flower in 2027 too!

Either. Plant tulips any time up to Christmas. Moffat.

Nice to see so many Edinburgh/East Lothian peeps. I’m quite invested in everyone’s results now, look forward to seeing how we all do in the spring!

Tulip bulbs went in, in pots, this afternoon.
I also have some T&M daffodil bulbs which I have had to put in pots as they were ENORMOUS.
Definitely looking forward to next Spring.

Put mine in last weekend and today saw a very fat grey squirrel sitting on the edge of the raised bed munching away on one 🤣🤣

Hopefully some will survive until spring

@Tigerbalmshark maybe you need to make like your username and get a fierce pet!

I haven't seen any squirrels round here since I adopted my former stray cat!

I sprinkled piri piri seasoning on one pot and plain chilli flakes on another so I'll see which one works best at detering the squirrels.
I have random wire bits on the other pots - soil sieve and the metal grate from my chiminea!

@AntiqueBooks there are loads of local cats in and out of our garden, they are all just a bit… tame 🤣

We have a couple of young foxes too, but the only violent action I’ve seen from them is them playing tug of war with my fleece hoops at 2am 🤷‍♀️

It’s actually lovely to have so much wildlife in the garden, we’re in inner London and this is the first time we’ve had a garden in 25 years so it’s a bit of an oasis.

I planted mine in pots in October then covered the pots with wire to keep the squirrels out. I live north of the Forth in Fife. I'm here for tulip watch.

Novice in South here, a few botanical varieties I planted at start of October are already sprouted... I think they're Cretan, Hilde. Fingers crossed they make it through winter ( if we get one )

Hello all!

Following Monty Don's advice to shelter my potted up bulbs from heavy rain, I stuck them in the shed. But now I see there is mould growing on the top of the compost!

What say we?!

Get them out again. I don’t protect mine and sw Scotland is probably the wettest part of Britain. You can’t be faffing about all the time. Having said that I have mousetraps out for the ones planted in the parterre

Thanks @MaxandMeg what has caused this? Lack of ventilation in the shed?

It's very faint, white mould, like a cobweb.

Google is telling me it may actually be beneficial!!

I tend to think it's best not to enquire about such things.

Hello bulbwatchers!

So it's just my tulip bulbs that have developed mould on the top of the compost.

The daffodils, iris and crocuses have not.

I was in B&Q today and they have potted up snowdrop bulbs already for sale so I bought a few.

I see in tonight's Gardeners World, Monty says it's fine to plant tulips right up until New Year, they just might flower a bit later.

He does also say to keep them somewhere dry or make sure they can drain.

Tulips defo appear to be the diva of the bulb world!

I liked the ones he was potting tonight - orange and pink - very similar to my favourite of Taylor Swift's bodysuits on the Eras tour!

I plant them on the first dry weekend after they arrive and this year there’s been maybe one of those… most of mine are in pots though. I have been known to leave it till Christmas as that’s the only time that I’ve had time and dry enough weather. Live in a particularly damp bit of the north west.

You are supposed to plant in Nov after the Oct rain. But with the climate all over the place, it's a gamble anyway.

I don't think we had a frost here until late Nov.

I plant earlier tbh as it's harder after the ground gets hard.

Not had problems before with that. My friend plants in late sept. Her biggest issue is squirrels eating them.

Do I spy Ballerina?

That sounds right for the orange one and I think negrita for the purple.

I watched that and made a note to buy some tulip bulbs after Christmas. Luckily DS2 bought me some so I will pop them in this week and cross my fingers.

Nice work, @Soony 's son!

I learned that I should have mixed my compost with horticultural grit. I wonder if this is why there is mould growing on the top of the compost - it's too wet/not enough drainage.

Oh well, we live and learn!

Hello bulb-watchers!

I have today bought a selection of ready-potted bulbs from B&Q and Lidl to compare and contrast to ones I planted myself in autumn.

I reckon for me, going forward, ready-potted makes sense as, at the moment until I sort my main garden out, I only want a small display for next to the front door. If you are planting tons of bulbs I suppose it's then worth buying the big bags.

Hello - will be interesting to see your various results! I have a few ‘green noses’ poking through in my pots but not many, I’m pleased to say, as we still potentially have a lot of winter to come.