It's hard to believe that we're well into November and that the holidays are creeping up, but don't let that stop you from planting a few pots or a window box with tulips, daffodils or other spring-bloomers. One of my favorite spring displays is the Chicago Botanic Garden's bulb garden where the tulips are spectacular, unlike any that would survive on my own deer-infested acre. Vibrant-colored tulips in Crayola crayon shades—yellow, red, orange. Backlit by the soft spring sunlight, they are stained glass. Then there are the pastels—the palest pinks, rose and creams—opening their delicate blossoms, abuzz with the season's first pollinators. Bambi, chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits aside, 'How can I get that effect in my garden?' I wondered. 



 

"Just pack in your new tulip bulbs 'cheek-to-jowl' to maximize your spring show," says Galen Gates, curator of perennial herbaceous plants at the Chicago Botanic Garden. "Be sure you have the bulbs below the surface, and where there are squirrels or chipmunks, hardware cloth is a valuable part of the equation." Hardware cloth—think window screen fabric—is cut to fit and can be used year after year.  "By doing this, you'll keep pests from uncovering and eating the bulbs. If you have deer, I suggest you plant window boxes and place them so you can enjoy their color each time you pass a window."  Great advice, especially for those of us who have deer-infested gardens. The bulbs blooming in my window box never made it into the ground last fall. I saved them in heavy-duty paper bags in the garage where they began sprouting in early March, so into the potting mix they went. In other years, I've kept leftover bulbs until January when I "forced" them to bloom indoors in pots.

"The forcing of spring bulbs is so simple," Galen says, "I’m surprised more people don’t do it. The procedure involves planting, watering, then tucking them away. After planting, water them thoroughly and let them sit outside for a day or two so the top of the soil dries off, which will keep any fungal growth from appearing. Next, move them into a garage that's attached to the house, an unheated basement or a crawl space. In the garage it's best to set them at the back of the building (away from any arctic blasts that are sure to appear), and ideally near a window. I always place a section of newspaper over the top to moderate temperature swings." 



Come late February, Gates uncovers the pots to let the bulbs continue growing in sync with the normal cycle of the year. "This is a good time to move them outdoors so the cool temperatures pace their growth appropriately, and I begin watering again. Remember that the bulbs need to establish roots in the fall — in this case requiring planting by Thanksgiving—and need to actively grow again in spring. As with most plants in containers, they benefit from water, and in this case you can water and water and water, and there won’t be too much. I have found that, around the country, gardeners trying this technique do everything except for the initial watering. Bulbs in these growing conditions often flower for 3 to 4 weeks, much longer than in the ground where there isn’t the air and gas exchange that comes with a professional growing medium and the right amount of moisture for maximum effect."

There's still plenty of time to head to your local garden center and snap up some of these beauties for a great display. Indoors or out. 

— Nina Koziol
www.thisgardencooks.com