When I checked a map of the weather monitoring stations throughout the island via www.wunderground.com this New Year’s morning, I saw numbers ranging from below freezing to 46 degrees. We’ve been having results like this for quite a while. Remember the recent snow storm that missed Oak Harbor and Coupeville and dumped four inches on the south end?
If Mother Nature can’t figure out what she’s doing with these topsy-turvy temperatures, no one should be at all surprised if the rest of us are a little confused right about now when it comes to how best to shepherd our gardens safely through the winter.
In fact, the temperature ups and downs have made some of the plants a bit schizophrenic and birthed one of the most-asked questions of late, and that’s what to do about the spring flowering bulbs that have made an unexpected early arrival.
It’s apparent many of the daffodils and even tulips have been poking their new foliage up out of the ground, some of them as early as November. Will they be all right?
The short answer is yes, though there can be complications, as you will see. If they’ve been in the ground for a number of seasons they’ve probably already experienced at least one bought of unseasonably warm weather in the past that woke them up early. Their foliage comes with a measure of built in hardiness against the cold and you usually don’t need to do anything if they start to pop up ahead of schedule.
Their leaves grow independently from their flower stalks, so if you see leaves, it doesn’t necessarily mean the flower stalks will also start coming up early. Flower buds are more tender than leaves, however, so if the buds do decide to brave the cold you can cover them with some light mulch if you know it’s going to get even colder before it gets warmer again.
If you just planted your bulbs in the fall, the weather hadn’t been erratic and they were coming up but no one else’s were, then it could be that you planted them too early or not deep enough. They need to go in the ground when it’s starting to get cool outside and at a depth of two to three times their height. I know I’m guilty of not planting them deep enough. After about the third time trying to dig a narrow hole to China, I usually give up and get lazy. So far, my bulbs have been more forgiving than I deserve.
Long-established bulbs can also end up being too close to the surface if you’ve done a lot of heavy weeding and raking that’s taken away top soil, or winters have caused them to heave up. Just add a few inches of well-composted mulch or topsoil to your beds and that should give them the protection they need.
And pay no mind to the muscari. They’re supposed to produce foliage in the fall that remains green throughout the winter. The same for garlics and members of the onion family. If you’ve planted garlics or onion starts, don’t let the sight of their tops poking up through the mulch cause heart palpitations.
Like the plants, just relax and chill.
