By Bev Johnson

Master Gardener

Bunkey planted 30 tulip bulbs 3 falls ago. The next spring, 20 of them bloomed. This spring, only 10 popped up. He was complaining to his neighbor, George, that he must have gotten bad bulbs.

  “How did you plant them?” George asked. “I followed the instructions, planted them 3 times their size deep then packed the soil on top.” “What did you do with the dry shells that come off when you tipped them out of the bag?” “Nothing, I guess. What was I supposed to do?” Actually, he did at least two things wrong. Leaving the tunics (the shells) on top of the soil told the rodents here be food. Then you didn’t take any measures to keep them from digging up and eating your tulip bulbs. Here are George’s tips: Pick up any dry skins-tunics of tulip bulbs and take them out of the garden. Dig the hole 4 times the depth of the bulb, then put a layer of chicken grit on top of the bulb before you cover it up. Once the critter hits the grit layer, it will quit digging as the grit hurts its paws. You can get chicken grit any place they sell feed. It’s made up of ground granite. The texture is very sharp.

  All bulbs need good drainage, or they will rot. A bulbs leaves fed the bulb by photosynthesis. The bulb stores this reserve for next year’s bloom. That is why you can plant them in areas that are shaded in the summer but in full sun in spring. Never remove leaves even if they look like they are dying. If you do, you will lose them. Allow them to ripen, turn yellow, and die naturally. Then you can gently tug them off. Some bulbs will send up leaves months before or after flowering. Just leave them alone.

  For tulips, dig the hole 4 times the depth the bulb is tall. Sprinkle some bulb food in the hole and mix well. It should not touch the bulb. Then plant the tulip bulb pointed side up. Add the layer of grit and cover well. Plant odd numbers, 5 or 7 for instance. They should not touch. The distance between your little finger and your thumb is about right. Smaller bulbs can be closer together and you can layer bulbs. Plant the larger ones as usual, add a layer of soil then plant some smaller ones on top. A neat way to naturalize daffodils is to plant the daff then plant a scilla or other minor bulb on either side of it. They will all bloom together.

  Finding the rabbits or deer have ravished your tulip beds is enough to make you quit planting them. Plant daffodils instead. All parts of them are poisonous. Nothing will touch them. The nice thing is they come in so many sizes and color combinations including pink, orange, and white, as well as yellow. They also range from 6 inches tall with petite yellow or white blooms to big honking ones with a powder puff middle. Add some bulbs that flower blue, and you have a spectacular spring show.

  There are six reasons why bulbs fail: 1) Poor drainage. The bulbs rot. 2) Not enough sunlight. 3) Rodents dig them up and eat them. Use grit or plant them in a cage of ¼ hardware cloth or if you can find it, bulb saver. 4) The bulbs got hot. Keep them in the fridge until you plant. 5) They were too small. They need to get big enough to bloom. 6) Not enough time. Wild bulbs, in particular, may take a year to acclimatize to your garden conditions