Georgia Magazine - September 2016 - 45

purpose in their garage, basement or utility room and dig up their bulbs in late summer each year for cold treatment. If you choose this method, brush off the loose dirt and spread the bulbs on newspaper in the shade for a few days to dry. Then refrigerate them in a paper bag, egg carton or mesh onion sack. Note that fruits such as apples and bananas give off ethylene gas as they ripen, which will cause the bulbs to rot if they are stored in the refrigerator together. If all that sounds like way too much work, there are alternative ways to enjoy tulips and other coldclimate bulbs in the South. You can always treat them as annuals, making sure to plant only pre-chilled bulbs. (Check with your local nursery to see if its bulbs are pre-chilled, or order from an online supplier that offers this service.) You also can seek out what are known as "species tulips." These are essentially wild varieties that have not been extensively hybridized like most modern tulips and thus are much more adaptable to a range of climatic conditions. Their flowers are typically smaller and less showy, but they still make quite a statement in a mass planting. Look for species such as Tulipa clusiana, T. tarda, T. kaufmanniana, T. bakeri, T. gregii and T. turkestanica. You may find one or two of these at a well-stocked garden center, but mail-order bulb nurseries offer a much wider selection. Brian Barth is a freelance writer living in Ontario, Canada. Best practices for successful bulb gardening ISTOCK.COM / ALESSANDROZOCC Whether you're growing one of the species tulips or trying to perennialize the showy hybrid varieties, the following guidelines are essential to success: Summer snowflake Plant them deep and keep them cool. Six to 8 inches is the minimum recommended depth to keep the bulbs cool. "The correct planting depth is very important-twice as deep as the bulb is high," Bennett says. "Some people don't plant deep enough, so having a good bulb auger is the ticket, particularly in really hard ground." Spreading pinestraw over the planting area or growing the bulbs amid a low groundcover like creeping Jenny or dead nettle further cools the soil. Tulips like full sun, but in Georgia they fare better in the dappled sun beneath a large hardwood tree or a location with afternoon shade. Provide excellent drainage. Georgia's heavy clay soils are as much of a death knell for bulbs as the heat. Plant them in a raised bed, or plan on excavating the earth to twice the recommended depth for the bulb and mixing in soil conditioner at a 1-to-1 ratio with native soil before planting. ISTOCK.COM / JONATHAN BARTON Support the bulb's seasonal needs. Apply special bulb fertilizer at planting time in fall and annually thereafter as well as in spring each year as soon as the first greenery emerges from the ground. Water once per month in fall and early spring (if there has not been a soaking rain) and weekly in early summer. It is critical to allow the leaves to remain until they have turned completely brown, usually in June. Surrounding them with summer annuals is a good way to conceal the tattered foliage. Then clip the leaves off and do not provide water again until fall. Choose other hardy varieties. While gardeners may idolize tulips, there are plenty of other beautiful fall-planted bulbs that are better-adapted to Southern growing conditions. The Narcissus genus, which includes not just the flowers commonly called narcissus but also daffodils and jonquils, is quite reliable in Georgia gardens and requires no special treatment. The same is true for Spanish bluebells, which often naturalize in woodland gardens in the South. Summer snowflake (which blooms in spring, despite the name) is a white-flowering counterpart to bluebells that will even naturalize in wet clay soils. And Georgia has several native bulbs that deserve consideration for the garden, such as the dainty rain lily, which also thrives in wet clay soil. For the featured plant of the month, see page 54B of the digital edition, online at georgiamagazine.org. Tulipa tarda web exclusive September 2016 More online at www.georgiamagazine.org web exclusive 45 http://www.ISTOCK.COM http://www.ISTOCK.COM http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - September 2016