Autumn is the Time to Plant Bulbs

If you want colorful surprises poking up in the spring, you need to plant bulbs in autumn -- after the first hard frost but before the ground gets too cold.

  • Topic: Bulbs
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger and Mary Ann Walz
  • Keywords: fall, bulbs, garden design, Fall Gardening, gardens
  • Date: September 2004

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The writer May Sarton called gardening a “grand passion.” Particularly fond of bulbs, she would end her workdays fussing over her lilies and daffodils.

“At the moment of planting a bulb, all is hope, no dismay,” she wrote in “Plant Dreaming Deep,” her first memoir. She often wrote about getting down on her hands and knees, sticking her hands in the earth and having the afternoons fly.

If you want colorful surprises poking up in the spring, you need to plant them now—after the first hard frost but before the ground gets too cold. In Santa Fe this is usually early October.

Crocus, daffodil, hyacinth, tulip and other spring blooming bulbs are only available in the fall.

What’s made gardening exciting recently is so many bulbs are xeric now. Which means they can tolerate long stretches of limited rainfall with some supplemental watering in the winter and then again in the spring.

Following are some guidelines:

Purchasing Bulbs

  • Anything in the box that looks like sawdust, a substance often found on tulips and is caused by an insect, is a warning. This indicates a poor quality bulb.
  • Bulbs should be firm. If soft, they will rot in the ground.
  • Choose bulbs with little new growth. Bulbs should produce roots in the fall; stem growth should take place in the spring.

When to Plant

  • Try getting bulbs in by the end of October. This allows them to get their roots settled in before winter.

How to Plant

  • Follow the directions on the packets when you buy the bulbs to plant at the correct depth. However, a good rule of thumb is to plant about three times deeper than the widest part of the bulb.
  • Dig a hole, either with a trowel or with a bulb planter. The dibble planting tool works especially well for planting many small bulbs. Add a handful of organic fertilizer such as Yum Yum Mix® to each hole.
  • Place the bulb roots down in the hole and cover with soil. Lightly water and water occasionally during winter months if there is no snow.