You want daffodils this spring but haven’t planted the bulbs yet. Is it too late?
Maybe you got gardening supplies as a holiday gift and are excited to try them out. Perhaps you bought bulbs last fall but never got them in the ground.
Maybe you’ve never gardened and are looking at a lifeless yard and wondering what flowers you can get to bloom this spring.
Karlina Packard, a Washington State University Pierce County Master Gardener in 2019 who lives in the Lake Tapps area, has some advice.
The News Tribune asked her via email if January is too late for procrastinating gardeners to get started, and what they can do to give flower bulbs a fighting chance this winter.
Q: Are there best practices for planting this late in the season?
Since most of our area has not had the ground freeze yet, the biggest thing to take into consideration is how much cold we have left this winter. Some bulbs only need 4-6 weeks below 40 degrees, but others need several months, which puts us past our last potential freeze date.
If you are like me and left your fall-bought-bulbs on the front porch since October, you should be OK, but if you are buying now and are looking at tulips or daffodils which need 12-15 weeks of cold, you can ask if they are “pre-chilled.”
Pre-chilled is when the grower chills the bulbs for you. It comes in handy when you want to force bulbs indoors.
Q: Which bulbs should you avoid this time of year, and which ones have a fighting chance?
I am a risk taker and will try growing just about anything. The only bulbs I would stay away from are mushy, moldy or hollow. Those have no chance of growing.
Q: Is it difficult to purchase bulbs this late? Where can you find them this time of year?
Most of what you will find at the big box stores and online is the stock that has been for sale since October. There are still plenty of bulbs to be found, but I would recommend buying in person if you can, because you have control over your purchase, versus buying something online that may be half grown in the bag and looking very sad by the time it gets to you.
Check your local nurseries and big box stores. They typically will also start getting potted up and near-blooming bulbs around the end of February.
Q: If you plant daffodils now when can you expect them to bloom?
Daffodils need that longer cold period, so if they are not pre-chilled, you may get foliage this year, but no flowers.
Planting depth and sunlight affect their blooms, too. Typically you want to plant a bulb 3-4 times its depth and daffodils tend to bloom once they get some warmth from the sun, so if they’re too shady, you may see lots of foliage, but few blooms.
Q: Anything else that procrastinating gardeners who are trying to catch up should consider?
As a procrastinating gardener myself, fear not. Flowers want to grow. If you see a bulb you really want to try to grow, try to grow it. I have two packages of tulips I’m just going to put at the edge of my flower bed and dump a bag or two of compost-y soil on top of. They should be just fine.
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
