March Gardening Guide: Planting Calla Lilies and Other Flowers

Due to the fact that many of us are so busy these days, garden centers and nurseries have come up with the perfect solution for the “Oops! I missed fall bulb planting!” problem: pre-potted, pre-chilled bulbs. You can get your favorite varieties with just a little shopping. There will still be some of work to do, but like we said earlier: you can plant an entire container garden of spring bulbs in just one afternoon.

This is not only a convenient, time-saving way to bring the beauty and fragrance of calla lillies, hyacinths, tulips and daffodils (one of the sure signs of spring!) into your landscape, but for warm-climate gardeners, it’s sometimes the only way to do it. Many spring bulbs need weeks of cold weather before they’re able to bloom. The potted, pre-chilled spring bulbs you’ll buy at your local garden center or nursery take this issue off the list.

Tips for Successful Spring Bulb Planting

• When at your local garden center or nursery, buy plants that have already sprouted but are still in tight buds. Taller plants are harder to successfully transplant.
• These sprouted bulbs need a few days of acclimation before you transplant them. They’ve been kept indoors at the garden center or nursery, so they aren’t used to the outdoors. Just put them in an unheated, but protected, area outside for a few days. Then they’ll be ready for transplanting.
• Make sure the containers you’ve chosen to transplant your bulbs into have good drainage.
• Only use a high-quality, organic potting soil when you transplant your bulbs.

• When you’re ready to transplant your bulbs, tip the bulb and soil out of the pot it came in being careful not to damage the delicate new roots. Gently place the bulb and soil in your container with the organic potting soil. In order to get a full, bouquet-like effect when your plants bloom, you should plant the bulbs close together, such that they’re almost touching each other.
• Sometimes, you can buy groups of bulbs in one pot. If you do this, keep them together when you transplant them. You’ll get the bouquet-like effect when they bloom, but most importantly, by not separating them, you’ll avoid damaging the delicate new root systems.
• All that’s left is to water your transplanted bulbs well and move the containers to a sunny location. Your afternoon’s work is done!

Once your spring bulbs bloom, your container garden will add amazing colors and wonderful scents to your landscape. Enjoy!