Tulips Daffodils All bulbs Misc. Information


TULIPS

• Our tulip mix started as a few trays of unidentified bulbs. Over the years we have added to this mix from forced bulbs, inadvertently mixing varieties at planting and harvest or just small lots we have discontinued. Most tulip bulbs look very similar and it is usually impossible to tell the varieties apart until they bloom.
• Quality cut tulips are now available year round. Many tulip growers import bulbs from the southern hemisphere to force in there greenhouses in the months of June through November.
• We walk our fields in February looking for fireheads. These are tulip leaves infected with a large mass of Botrytis spores, ready to infect other plants. Check your own yard when the tulips are an inch or two out of the ground. If you find any, remove the entire plant and bulb and throw away, do not compost.
• It is important to check on your bulbs once in a while throughout the winter.  First, check to make sure the emerging shoots look healthy and there are no fuzzy spores on them.  If so, remove and discard immediately (do not mulch diseased plants, it will only create a bigger problem). Watch for slugs or snails, they can eat a flower before you realize it is bloom time.
• Take advantage of our great specials by ordering with your friends, family and neighbors.  Split the larger quantities and save.  It's a great way to meet your neighbors, compare your green thumbs and share bouquets.  You can also try the more unusual with less expense.  Get creative and watch your gardens grow.
• Plant tulips for flower bouquets in your vegetable garden in the fall.  It usually doesn't matter that there is unsightly foliage in the spring after cutting the flower.
• Plant your bulbs in full sun so they don't spend extra energy looking for light.  Plants in shade will be taller, thinner stemmed and weaker.  The extra energy spent looking for light also makes them more susceptible to disease and less likely to bloom again. 
• Water your tulips about 1 inch per week in the spring if it is unusually dry.
• It is important to check on your bulbs once in a while throughout the
  winter. First, check to make sure the emerging shoots look healthy and
  there are no fuzzy spores on them. If so, remove and destroy immediately (do not mulch diseased plants, it will only create a bigger problem).
• The Tulip flowers you buy at our farm have been placed in water after picking to help ensure a long life. They have also been placed in a cooler at 32 degrees to slow down the respiration and breakdown of the flower.
  Flowers are also picked prior to opening and placed in protective sleeves
  which helps prevent bruising and other damage to the flower.
• In late January and February, inspect for "fire heads" on tulips. This appears as a gray fuzz on the tips of the foliage. These are actually botrytis spores and can spread to all your tulips. Pull out the entire infected plant and bulb, and discard to control the disease. Botrytis is called Fire Flight because of its rapid spread.
• Tulips are found in the wild in N. Africa, Southern Italy, Southern France, Turkey, China, Japan and Korea. All at an average latitude of 40 degrees.
• Before placing tulips in a vase or using in an arrangement, take a sharp knife and cut the ends of the stems off at a slight angle. This will help the flowers take up water.
• The flower of the tulip is usually formed in July. Cutting a bulb open in the fall, it is easy to see the entire flower. (Cutting a bulb open like this does destroy it.)
• We dig our tulips every year and change fields. We actually rotate all our crops using cover crops as much as possible on our farm. This helps with disease, insect, weed and erosion control. In your garden you should try to do the same by not replanting tulips in exactly the same place you dug them.
• To keep cut tulips fresh and vigorous , be sure to keep the water in the vase "topped off" with fresh cold water every day or two. Flowers kept in a cool location in a room will also last much longer.
• Break off faded blooms before the flowers have started to set seed. This allows all the energy in the plant to go into the bulb for next year's bloom.
• After picking our tulips in the field, they are taken to our barn where they are washed, immediately wrapped in clear cello to protect the flowers then placed upright in trays. The flowers are quickly moved into cold storage (33°F) and placed in a container with water. These steps are important in lengthening the life of the flower.
• Unlike most cut flowers, tulips keep growing in the vase, sometimes up to 6 inches or more! For the longest enjoyment, buy cut tulips when the buds are still closed but the color of the flower is evident.
• The flower of a tulip is usually formed in July. Cutting a bulb open in the fall, it is easy to see the entire flower.
• Tulips drink copious amount of water so add fresh cold water every day. Change the water completely every couple of days. This will prevent harmful levels of bacteria from developing in the water, reducing the life of the flower.
• Fresh cut tulips are geotropic and phototropic, meaning that their growth is affected by gravity and light, respectively. Blooms will always curve upwards and bend towards sources of light.
• Avoid adding gin, vodka or pennies to the tulip water, brushing the blooms with egg whites or piercing the stems just under the bloom. None of these "home remedies" has ever proved to have any real benefits.
• Tulip bulbs are sized by their caliber or the measurement of the bulbs circumference. All our tulips are 12-14 centimeters around except for our landscape special and some of the species tulips.
• The cut flowers you buy at our farm have been "Hydro-cooled", that is, placed in water after picking to help ensure a long life and placed in a cooler at 32 degrees to slow down the respiration and breakdown of the flower. Flowers are also picked prior to opening and placed in protective sleeves to help prevent bruising and other damage to the flower. These flowers will open in a few days and last much longer than flowers that are picked open.
• According to early Persians where tulips are native;
  Red tulips were a declaration of love,
  Yellow tulips meant hopeless love,
  Variegated tulips meant the recipient had beautiful eyes,
  Tulips with a black center symbolized a heart burnt by love.
• All parts of tulips are edible and the bulb can be substituted for onions (although they are a little more expensive and less flavorful). The petals have little taste but can be used to garnish a dish, chop a few petals and throw them in a salad, sugar them to decorate a cake or use the entire flower for a fruit bowl, pinching out the pistil and stamen in the middle.
• In late January and February, inspect for "fire heads" on tulips. This appears as a gray fuzz on the tips of the foliage. These are actually botrytis spores and can spread to all your tulips. Remove the entire infected plant and bulb, and discard to control the disease. Botrytis is called Fire Blight because of its rapid spread.
• You do not need to dig and divide your tulips every year. Just make sure they are not in an area of the yard where they will be watered all summer.
• Tulips are best planted when the soil temperature is 60 degrees or less at 6 inches deep. This usually doesn’t occur until later September which is when we ship our bulbs. A tulip may be stressed if it is planted in a warm damp soil.
• We have listed throughout the tulip section that this variety is a "sport" of something else. This just means that this variety started when one of the tulips showed a marked change from the parent variety. All parrot tulips are a sport of another variety.
• All our tulips are planted in the fields in nylon netting. We purchased three machines from Holland to plant and dig the bulbs. In the fall, one machine plants the tulips through a tube holding a net. At digging, another machine lifts the nets out of the ground and then a different machine picks the nets. This system can dig the bulbs faster, leaves fewer bulbs in the field and takes almost no soil out of the field.
• The brown outer covering of a tulip is called a tunic. This often protects the bulb early in the summer but by the time we ship them to you, these have broken off or cracked. This doesn’t hurt the bulb and actually makes it easier for the bulb to root.
• Most tulips carry botrytis (fire blight) and fusarium (tulip sour) just as we carry common cold germs. These diseases may show up when the tulip is stressed. The best prevention is to buy healthy bulbs and follow the planting instructions.
  

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DAFFODILS

• Although daffodils bulbs are poisonous, the flowers are a tasty delicacy for slugs.
• High soil temperatures create an environment for many diseases that attack bulbs.  For this reason we recommend that you don't plant your bulbs in the fall until soil temperatures start to cool. (or fall below 60 degrees)
• Watch for slugs or snails in your daffodils. They won't eat the foliage but can eat a flower before you realize it is bloom time.

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ALL BULBS

• Gravitropism is a big word that means your bulbs are internally programmed so that the roots grow down and the shoots up! So relax if you think your 3 year old planted them upside down, the bulbs will figure it out.
• High soil temperatures create an environment for many diseases that attack bulbs. For this reason we recommend that you don’t plant your bulbs in the fall until soil temperatures start to cool. (or fall below 60 degrees)
• If you plant your bulbs in containers, watch the weather for prolonged cold spells that could freeze your pots solid. When this happens, the water in the soil freezes and expands, damaging the bulb. Although the tulip has a protective layer of scales around its core, a long hard freeze will destroy it. Move these inside or mulch heavily. This also applies to areas where the soil freezes deeper than the planted bulbs.
• In 1945 toward the end of World War II, the citizens of Holland were reduced to eating tulip bulbs in the infamous "hunger winter".
• Bulbs are quick and easy to grow. Only a small hole is needed and minimal
  care for years of satisfaction. Spring flowers don't need mowing, painting, walking, daily feedings – just a few minutes a year to plant, fertilize and clear the foliage when it dries.
• Slugs can be a major pest of bulbs. They will eat holes in tulip and hyacinth leaves. If your daffodil flowers are not opening right, look closely, slugs don't eat the foliage of daffodils, but they do eat the flower.
• When dividing bulbs, dig the clumps once the leaves have dried down. You can replant right away or store in a well ventilated location away from heat until fall.
• To best care for your bulbs, the leaves MUST be left alone until they are yellow. This is because the foliage manufactures the food that is being stored in the bulb for NEXT year's flower. Bulbs are actually a storage organ that helps the plant inside survive dormant periods.
• If the soil is dry, water your bulbs after planting to help establish root growth.
• After a hard rain, if water stands for over 24 hours, the area is too wet for most bulbs.
• Spring flowering bulbs do not benefit from granular fertilizer applied during or after bloom. The best time to fertilize is at planting or in late winter when they first emerge. High nitrogen fertilizers may also increase fungal diseases.
• Always plant bulbs in groups, whether is small "bouquets" or large beds, a single flower standing alone is not very dramatic.
• Don't know much about bulbs? Take our suggestion and experiment. Pick a flower bulb variety on a whim and try a small planting. If it does well and
  you like it, add more next year.
• Most bulbs will rot in standing water so avoid areas prone to flooding such
  as the bottom of hills or especially under drainpipes!
• Many spring flowers are sensitive to the weather. Tulips and crocus close during chilly and stormy weather. When the weather warms and the sun comes out, they open wider. Often you will see a completely different flower shape and color.
• Water is critical for spring flowering bulbs. Water your bulbs after planting unless it has already started to rain and the soil is moist. Water is needed in late winter and early spring when the plants emerge. At this time most bulbs require about 17" of water a week. This is especially critical for potted bulbs where missing a watering can result in an aborted flower or yellowing foliage. After flowering however, it is natural for the foliage to yellow and dry out. When this starts to happen, discontinue watering.
• If you dig your bulbs, separate the bulbs and take off the old roots. It is important that the bulbs are completely dry before storing or they will rot. To dry bulbs, put on a mesh tray in the shade outside for a day or two before storing them. Good air circulation in storage is also important and never ever store in an airtight container.
• Just as farmers rotate their crops to take good care of their soil, in your own yard, rotate your plantings.
• Early blooming flowers can help brighten any winter landscape. Often we look out through our
  windows and appreciate the color and anticipate the approaching spring. However, at the same time, slugs are also enjoying these flowers. It is important to get out in your yard in late winter and inspect for slugs. They can often rob you of entire flowers without you even being aware of it.
• Most bulbs will rot in standing water so avoid areas prone to flooding such as the bottom of hills or especially under drain pipes!
• Sprinkle the seeds of wallflowers or Forget-Me-Not's over your bulb planting in the fall. These fast growing plants will cover the leaves of the bulbs once the flower is gone in the spring.
• Flower bulbs are nature’s natural computer chips. They record the season’s temperature, moisture and air quality and when certain requirements are met, specific things happen. For example, when you plant your bulbs in the fall, a certain amount of moisture is needed for the roots to emerge. During the winter, most spring flowering bulbs need a certain amount of cold units before they will bloom. After blooming and the plant has dried down, the bulb keeps track of heat units. When they receive enough, a flower is formed for the coming season (for tulips, sometime in late July).
  

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MISCELLANEOUS

• We pick our tulips as tight buds with the color just starting to show. The flowers are then brought into a cooler and placed in near freezing water.  This helps them last longer when you take them home.
• Our flowers travel well and will survive many hours without water. When you arrive home, just re-cut the ends of the stems and place in clean cold water. Even very limp flowers will revive.
• For longer lasting flower arrangements, remove foliage below the water line.
  This foliage will decompose quickly and spoil the water if left on. Also keep cut flowers out of direct sunlight, protect from heat and drafts and add cold water as needed. Start with a clean vase as bacteria in a dirty vase can shorten the life of your flowers.
• We plant our bulbs in raised rows in the field to ensure they have proper drainage. We have had the unfortunate experience of losing many a tulip planted in a low swail during a wet year. In your own yard if you know you have a wet area, avoid planting bulbs in it.
• Buy a few extra bulbs and plant them in an out of the way place. When spring arrives, you can pick these to bring inside without ruining the display in your yard.
• Plant several small pots each with a different color or kind of bulb. In the spring as they bloom, arrange the pots in different patterns on your front porch or patio.
• Each garden contains its own micro climate. Bulbs planted against the southern side of your house may bloom up to a week earlier than the same ones planted on the north side. Bulbs planted in dense shade may be twice as tall as those planted in full sun. Cities tend to be warmer than rural areas. Bulbs planted by a warm sidewalk may push out of the ground earlier
  due to the warmth absorbed by the concrete. Early shoot growth in the fall
  doesn't seem to affect the bulbs ability to bloom the following spring.
• Plant your bulbs in mass for the most dramatic effect. Exceptions to this may be some of the larger Alliums and Fritillaries of which three planted together would create a focal point.
• To keep squirrels and other critters away from your bulbs follow these simple tips. Plant bulbs over 4 inches deep, cover with chicken wire bought at almost any hardware or lumber store or plant bulbs distasteful to rodents
  such as daffodils, alliums or fritillarias.
• Sprinkle the seeds of wallflowers or Forget-Me-Not's over your bulb planting
  in the fall. These fast growing plants will cover the leaves of the bulbs once the flower is gone in the spring. Flowers bring happiness! A professor at Rutgers University conducted a study that proves flowers bring happiness. Findings showed an immediate positive effect on emotions by increasing feelings of satisfaction. The study also showed that flowers can positively affect future behavior and therefore serve as a natural moderator of moods.
• The trick to growing tulips, crocus and hyacinths in warm weather gardens (USDA zones 9 & warmer) is to give them a "Cold treatment" to fool them into thinking they've gone through a cold winter.
• Gardening is great exercise and a good family project. Most kids like to play in the dirt and you can make a game out of planting bulbs and plants. Let the kids pick out their own bulbs and plant them. They will take great pride in the flowers in the spring when they bloom.
• Bulbs planted in pots are particularly susceptible to cold damage. Protect pots from freezing solid by moving the pot to a protected area until the chance of severe freezing has passed.
• For the most dramatic effect in your yard, mass tulips together in groups. Think of them as bouquets in your garden.
• With every bulb order placed you receive free, a bulb planting guide with all our planting and care tips.

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