Ask a Master Gardener: Plant bulbs now for spring tulips

It is hard to believe we are having such beautiful weather this late in October. Our expected first frost date was Oct. 15, but according to the weather people, there is no frost in sight. Of course that could change in the blink of a eye, so be prepared - remember, we are in Mid-Missouri.

One not-so-good thing is I am wearing myself out trying to take advantage of the great weather. And when is the lawn going to stop growing?

Of course, there is one good thing coming up, according to the Missouri Botanical Gardens: The last part of October and the first part of November is the time to plant tulips in Mid-Missouri. Here are a few suggestions to help you get the best flowers next spring.

When you buy the bulbs, you will want to choose tulips like any other bulbs, making sure they are nice and fat and firm. Avoid any that are soft, flabby, moldy or whose papery cover is missing.

Tulips are so eager to grow that if you plant them too early, they'll send their leaves up right away. This will only freeze them in the winter. So you might want to wait for this warm weather to pass, and pass it will. You should store bulbs in paper bags, not plastic, while waiting to plant them, and keep them in a cool place. So if you can't plant them right away, you should keep tulip bulbs in the refrigerator's crisper drawer, if you have the room.

Don't put them with apples and other fruit. Apples and bananas give off ethylene gas, which helps fruit ripen but kills the flower bud inside any bulbs. Don't put tulip bulbs in the freezer; it will kill them.

There are about 23 different groups of tulips, but Triumph hybrids are the classic single, cup-shape tulip that make up the largest grouping of tulip types. The second group is the double tulip, sometimes referred to as peony-flowered. This group has large double flowers that bloom late in the season. Individual blooms often measure 4 inches across and are on 6- to 12-inch stems. Both groups can be further sub-divided into early and late types.

Whatever the group or cultivar, tulips perform best when grown in full sun and tolerate a wide range of soils, as long as drainage is good. Before planting tulips, the soil should be spaded/tilled to a depth of about 12 inches and amended with organic matter. Bulbs are usually planted 2 times as deep as they are wide and spaced between 4-8 inches apart, depending upon variety. Set the bulb so the pointy end is facing up. Don't worry if you get some upside down. They should flower anyway, but it will take them longer to come through the ground in spring, and they may not be as tall as they should.

Tulip bulbs appear to be a favorite food of field mice, voles, gophers and other rodents, especially during winter months. To guard against damage some gardeners go to the trouble of planting each bulb in a small mesh cage fashioned from hardware cloth or welded wire.

Unfortunately, tulips do not thrive in hot climates and do not naturalize in Missouri as readily as some of the other spring bulbs (like Narcissus). Therefore, tulips are often treated as annuals in Mid-Missouri. They are planted in beds for early spring color with the intent of replacing them with a summer annual for color the remainder of the growing season. Although tulip bulbs may be saved from year-to-year, they usually decline in vigor and bloom quality each year.

Just what I needed, one more thing to do!

Happy gardening!

Peter Sutter is a life-long gardening enthusiast and a participant in the MU Extension's Callaway County Master Gardener program. Gardening questions can be sent to [email protected].