How many of us procrastinate, waiting for a better day to accomplish a certain task, only to find ourselves up against it when our time is up? Planting bulbs has remained on my garden ‘to-do’ list since I picked them up from Brent and Beck’s Bulb Shop in early November. And yet, here I am still planting on the 13th of January. I’ve been working on it, a bit of the time, since just before Christmas. It is on days like this that I face the ugly truth that I likely ordered too many bulbs, and should probably never again purchase another Narcissus. And yet, in mid-April when our garden is filled with nodding daffodils, I will likely start making notes of where we need to plant some for spring of 2025. That was the case last spring, as I recall. I even found sticky squares of note paper in my desk calendar reminding me where I intended them to go.
One advantage of waiting so late in the season to plant is finding leaves poking through the soil, pin-pointing where bulbs already grow. Even though I’ve been studying photos taken last spring, memorializing last year’s display and showing where the ‘holes’ are, it still helps to have the visual guide to remind me when I have a shovel in hand.
It was unusually warm here this morning for January. Despite hours of heavy rain overnight, which normally would have cautioned me against trying to dig today, I still headed out to gingerly do what I could do. When will there be a ‘better’ day? The sun is out, the wind is warm(ish). It may be snowing here by Tuesday, and the week promises to be a very, very cold one.
There is so much to see and enjoy in our garden, even in January. The Hellebores are beginning to bloom, buds are swelling on shrubs, and birds are flitting about everywhere. The rosemary is covered in flowers and we still have a variety of flowers in bloom on the patio.
It is days like this which makes us very grateful to live in Virginia, and not Nebraska, or any of the areas that experienced tornadoes mid-week. I would much rather spend my Saturday morning planting bulbs and listening to the birds than shoveling snow, or picking up debris after severe weather. The wind is roaring outside ahead of the cold front, but it is just a blustery day, and not a major storm.
I came inside with perhaps 20-30 bulbs left to plant. I didn’t count them on purpose. I will probably remember somewhere I want some to go before tomorrow morning, which may be the last chance to go out and plant for the next few weeks. Even though the bulbs are showing little green leaves emerging, they are healthy. They will be fine, planted this month, and will bloom in March or April, even with a late start.
It is great to get outside in winter, survey the garden, putter around a bit, and plan for the year ahead. Everything is constantly growing, changing, and maturing into its next form, even when we are down to the ‘bare bones’ of winter. There is always something beautiful to enjoy.
With appreciation to Jim Stephens of Garden Ruminations, who hosts Six on Saturday each week.
Our Forest Garden 
My hellebores have not bloomed yet but the daffodils are definitely pushing up out of the ground.
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Lots of promises of things to come.
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A good idea to plant the bulbs late, but at the moment, the ground is frozen here, and it would be impossible to make holes…! The cold coming from the North will certainly affect you a little too? We will have to protect these pretty flowers…
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Its very true, Fred. The cold is coming here, too, and we have been preparing for it. If I don’t get the last of the bulbs into the ground today I will plant them in pots. We are getting used to the warmer climate and grow alarmed when the cold comes from time to time, don’t we? Spring, when it comes, will be all the sweeter. Stay warm, and I hope your ground thaws soon.
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To plant anything where I am at the moment, you would need to dig through at least 18″ of snow and ice just to get to the frozen soil. Nope, no procrastination on bulb planting allowed in Wisconsin! Actually you could have planted at Christmas when we had green grass and temps in the fifties…Lovely to see signs of growth!
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You just never know when the window of opportunity will slam shut, do you? 18″ is a lot of snow and ice to contend with. I hope you are safe and warm ❤ ❤ ❤
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Oh yes, I think only minimal shoveling today, no new snow just that which is blowing around. We had a bit of sun yesterday which helps as it makes a crust on top.
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Yes, that is exactly what happened as I waited for the gingers to get frosted. The minor frost merely ruined the foliage of some types, without damaging their stalks. I waited so long to dig them that some are already starting to grow. Would this be a convenient time to send a few of their rhizomes?
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Should I add some ‘Australia’ Canna rhizomes to fill the empty space in the box, rather than packing material?
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Thank you so much for your very generous offer of the ginger and Cannas. We are in a very cold stretch of weather here now-probably our coldest since sometime in 2022- so it wouldn’t be good for the plants to be in the mail until this polar freeze across the middle of the country has passed. It is much cold in the interior states, but will be cold enough here that we may have some days staying right at or below freezing, too. Can you hold the plants for a week or two so they have a better trip? Once safely here, I’ll pot them up and keep them in the garage or basement until the weather settles, but I am concerned about their time in transit. I adore Cannas. Many of the ones I’ve planted in situ in past years have been eaten by voles, but I can try C. ‘Australia’ in a large container. They have such beautiful leaves! Thank you! I hope you have a great week.
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Just let me know when it is safe to send them. There are not many rhizomes of the various gingers because I only acquired them within the last year, and the kahili ginger that was here prior to that got eaten by gophers. The ‘Australia’ canna rhizomes are rather dinky, but they grow fast. They are what I pulled up while cutting the primary colony back for the season. Anyway, I can send a list of the items once I send them.
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I”m so excited! I can’t wait to see how these grow out. It doesn’t matter if they are small, these types of plants grow so quickly. I’ll keep them in a pot for the first year, anyway, just to keep them safe. I’ll let you know when the weather has let up enough to safely send them. Thank you!
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Splendid!
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