Saving Summer Bulbs

Summer flowering “bulbs” - calla, caladium, cannas, tuberous begonia, gladiola, and the peacock orchid - must be dug up in the fall before the first hard frost, and stored fro the winter.

If these bulbs spend winter in the ground, in almost of Ohio, they will die. They are not like spring flowering bulbs - tulips, daffodils, crocuses, etc. - that are planted in the autumn and bloom as early as February or March and left in the ground for several years.

In order to save them, you must remove the bulbs from the ground in the fall, preferably before the first hard freeze; frost doesn‘t count. If weather forecasters predict temperatures below freezing, you can give yourself some extra time by covering your flowers with an old sheet or even newspapers, just like you do in the spring.

A light frost is not a problem. Although the top of the plant will wither, the in ground portions are not damaged. In fact, allowing the top of the plant to die is the first step in the procedure for storing them.

If you have time - freezing temperature are not predicted - simply withhold water from the bed, hanging baskets or boxes and allow the plant tops to wither and die on their own. This allows the energy to move down into the bulb like structures.

Next, dig around the plant, being careful not to chop the bulb. To be safe, I would suggest staying several inches out beyond the plant stem.

A work of caution: watch out for large root clusters, especially with dahlias and cannas. If you have a bed of plants old enough to be clustering, dig around what you suspect is the entire underground root mass and pry it loose as a unit.

After the bulbs are out of the ground, shake off excess soil and allow the bulb to air dry. Then, cut off the stems, leaving several inches - about 2 inches for gladiola, 6 inches for dahlia. If the stems or tops are not withered, dry the bulbs upside down, or at least lying on their side to allow moisture to drain out of the stem end.

Once dry, bulbs need to be coated with a fungicide before storage. Put the bulbs in plain grocery bags and shake a little to dust them lightly with a powdered fungicide. Check with your local garden store for the type to use; it will vary depending on the type of bulbs. Since bulbs are fairly expensive, I use a different bag for each bulb type. If your landscaping has been designed with a particular color emphasis, you can keep the bulbs in bags; this technique will help you keep color straight as well. But, don’t trust your memory - mark the bags.

Next, layer the bulbs in the bag. First, a row of bulbs, alternated with a layer of vermiculite or moderately dry peat - no more three layers deep. There are two goals here: first to allow the air to circulate while preventing drying out. And to avoid crushing the bulbs.

Too much dampness will cause the bulbs to rot, but too much air will cause the bulbs to dry out and die. Mist the covering material lightly with a plant mister about three times during the winter. If you think you might forget, just mark your gardening calendar to do it about once a month.

Store you bulbs in a cool area. The optimal temperature is 40 to 45 degrees.

New plants can be started in flats or peat pots anytime around the first of March, to be ready for mid-May planting or just wait until your area is frost free and plant them directly in the ground. Gladiola, for example, will bloom eight weeks after planting, so you could put groups in the ground at one to two week intervals and extend the blooming period. This year, I didn’t get mine in the ground until mid-June but I had lovely bloom in mid-August.

Some of my clients used to complain that summer bulbs were a waste of money because they didn’t grow the second season after planting. But, these gardenerners didn’t remember to dig out and care for the bulbs during the winter. Summer bulbs can be some of your most colorful plants; and with good care will grow beautifully season after season.