I have had success with tulips and containers. Here’s my recipe first to make sure that you have good potting soil. I usually have it slightly moist. I plant my tulip bulbs about 8 inches below the top of the container. I then cover the container with weed preventer cloth, this is good because it doesn’t allow the rain to really get down into the soil, which would result with, the bulbs rotting. Next, I use a bungee cord to tighten the cloth around the pot, and I make sure that the cloth is torn in January. I will remove that cloth and I have purchased a mesh screen to cover the top of the container. I put the mess screen over the container. Use the bungee cord to get it taunt and let the tulips grow if it rains a lot. You probably do need to have some sort of protection for it, but I have had no problem with this additionally this potting soil and the containers every other year, good luck.
This is very surprising experience to me. I live in North West of Uk and we are literally classified as temperate rainforest climate. It rains almost every day from september to march and in times it floods. I have only lost bulbs to extreme cold in pots i al talking like minis 20 C below zero. Both my pots bulbs and raised bed bulbs do great. We have milder winters though and my tulips start sprouting late january but i literally saw few poking out already in late Nobember. Maybe you can use leaf mulch to protect them. It soaks lots of water within itself. It also protected my dalia in the raised bed although we jad minus 15 C for few days. Daffodils grow here in very waterlogged heavy clay in direct ground. However i lost all my man improved double blooming species in pots after extremely cold winter while the ones closer to wilder forms are still around.
I was planning not to get tulip bulbs but now watching you made me get some 🤭... I am in zone 9b and I use pots containers as well. I used (re-used) last year tulip bulbs that were in bloom from the store and the ones that were in good size did came black this spring. I just water them at planting time and that was it, no more watering and they were ok. I will try some daffodils this coming spring and see what happens bc I did get some rotten bulbs this spring, I am planning just go 3-4 inches deep to prevent rotting instead of 6 with the daffodils. Good luck to everyone with 🌷❤.
I'm not sure where I read or heard it from just recently but the advice was to plant your bulbs on their side so the growth point won't collect water as it opens and will have less of a rot potential. I had never heard this before and have been a gardener for a long time. I'm over in Fort Wayne, IN and I plant my bulbs in ground but had a few rot last year for the first time that was near a downspout so going to try planting on the side as an experiment. I've bought thousands of bulbs and have ordered from Holland Bulb, K.van Bourgondien, Dutch Grown, John Scheepers, Longfield Gardens, and I love Brent and Becky's because they sell Daffs in small quantities so I can get all the specialty ones I want instead of having to buy 25 of just one kind. I have never had any issues with any of these suppliers with variety not being true as ordered or any rotten bulbs delivered in case anyone looking was worried about these online sources. If you are up for it next year maybe try some planted on their sides, I can't imagine having to move so many containers, I get frustrated by just my few annual pots I do that I move into the garage over winter :) your love of gardening is evident!
I am definitely going to try that next year if they rot this year! It’s makes sense to me. I haven’t even started moving the pots down yet and I’m not looking forward to it 🤣
I had all of my daffodils, tulips, hyacinths & alliums come up in spring. I didn’t do anything special to them. Living in the PNW. We have very wet weather. The one thing I had no success with were my crocus. The leaves came up but no flowers. This year the squirrels are on to me. They now know about my garden. Last year was my first year at this property. So now the little monsters have dug up some of my tulips for snacking on. I’ve got most of the beds with bird spikes now to keep them out. I like your tarping idea. I might try that for next year. It would be more simple.
I’m so glad you did this video. Was very helpful, thank you! This will be my first year planting bulbs. And they’ll be in containers. I bought them from HD. Crossing fingers my beginner green thumb will shine through. 🤞🌷😊
I made so many mistakes with bulbs too. A lot of my large bulbs rotted, but I got some baby bulbs when I dug everything up after blooming, and now I’ve tossed them into my ground landscape to see what happens. Some of the other baby tulip bulbs I planted in a 12” terracotta pot, and I’m leaving on my deck under a covered area, “mulched” with pine cones so the squirrels don’t get to it, and I DIDNT water them in this time. But I want to see how the pot handles just being outside through the winter, and I’ll moved it more in the sun in probably late March to see what happens.
Thank you for sharing the info as always. Since all my bulbs were rotten last year, I decided to experiment in two ways this year. I planted crocus and miniature tulips in the planter boxes and tarped them. I put fancier-looking tulip bulbs in the fridge to chill. I am planning to pot them up in the early spring and hopefully, enjoy them in the mid-to late spring. Fingers' crossed. I also live in Chicago.
@@ChicagoGardener Thank you for your response! I live in S Loop. I live in a tiny apartment that has a south-facing small balcony. So I am completely a container gardener. Your videos are always encouraging. Have a great Thanksgiving! Keep warm😀
Oh no, that stinks! I planted about 40 last winter and maybe 2/3 came up but we had a crazy chipmunk population and I saw evidence that they took a bunch. This winter I planted, oh...300. The chipmunk population has been culled (sad, but it was truly out of control) and so far I've only seen that one for sure was taken.
Good Morning! I had the same experience with taking pots out of the garage too soon in March. I also had a large pot that I tested leaving on the covered front porch, which failed 😢 This fall, I’ve decided to put some in my new greenhouse & some in the garage to overwinter. Here’s hoping your bulbs do well next spring! 🌷🌷🌷
amazon sells plastic pop up greenhouses (I got the pear shaped kind) that you can put your individual pots under after you get your pots from the garage in the spring. I cover my pots with tulip bulbs in the fall (or spring) when it rains, then take them off. You don't need to install them, they just unfold, then you can fold them back when you remove them.
@@ChicagoGardener Here is the ones I have: porayhut Pop Up Greenhouse Cover (pear shaped). I just pop the greenhouses up when it rains, then remove them when it's not raining. It should work for when you bring your planters from the garage in the spring. You can put the planters into those greenhouses, so the soil won't get wet when it rains too much.
Hey girl! Watching now! So my sisters & I garden together! So this year we are doing our first cut flower garden! We have a few vego beds in which we just planted out our cold hardy flower seedlings. We are in SE Texas & rain is a factor too. We have a garden grid for watering that sits on top of the soil, which we are loving BUT instead of tomato cages, we were thinking garden hoops?!? We bought some inexpensive ones from amazon & they are great. So they come as sticks that you just connect to the length (height) you want, then put 1 end into the soil on either side so it makes a hoop shape. Then we covered with some lightweight netting to keep bugs out but you could add some tarps over top of the hoops for rainy days & have space for the foliage!? We will be planting bulbs for the first time too in containers so thank you for sharing all of your experiences. 🩷
@ I tried to link it but don’t know if that worked. The “store” was called “FuBegi” (?) But you can probably just search “60pcs Garden Hoops for Raised Beds” Hope this helps! Fingers crossed for our bulbs this year! 🤞🏻☺️🌷
A little bit, but mostly in smaller pots. In the past, the bulbs usually sprout a bit so I know they made it through winter but then stop growing after the spring rain rots them 😩
@@ChicagoGardener I'm sure it'll be great!! I love watching your show! I had a 50-pot container garden last year, and I'm patiently waiting for this year's gardening start.
Zone 4b here my potted bulbs survived winter last year but all rotted in early spring. This year I planted bulbs only in ground but I put a dozen of each in paper bags in the fridge that'll stay there for the winter (3-4 months) and I'll plant them in pots in spring as an experiment. Is that something you've tried? I found a lot of conflicting information about this.
I haven’t tried it myself but I feel like it should work! They should get the required chill hours in the fridge and then you can plant them in spring. Let me know how it goes for you!
You keep talking about bulbs rotting and it's just raining away outside 🤦🏻♀️ Maybe it's a good thing I've been so late in squaring away the garden for winter
@ChicagoGardener I've got heavy mulch on one flower drawer and a garlic bed, but the other two places I've stuck bulbs are bare except for hardware cloth I put down to keep the squirrel from digging everything up. 😕
That hair is stunning! I’m looking to start a winter garden to see some beautiful spring flowers! 💐 thanks for your guidance planta princess
I have had success with tulips and containers. Here’s my recipe first to make sure that you have good potting soil. I usually have it slightly moist. I plant my tulip bulbs about 8 inches below the top of the container. I then cover the container with weed preventer cloth, this is good because it doesn’t allow the rain to really get down into the soil, which would result with, the bulbs rotting. Next, I use a bungee cord to tighten the cloth around the pot, and I make sure that the cloth is torn in January. I will remove that cloth and I have purchased a mesh screen to cover the top of the container. I put the mess screen over the container. Use the bungee cord to get it taunt and let the tulips grow if it rains a lot. You probably do need to have some sort of protection for it, but I have had no problem with this additionally this potting soil and the containers every other year, good luck.
Thank you!!!
This is very surprising experience to me. I live in North West of Uk and we are literally classified as temperate rainforest climate. It rains almost every day from september to march and in times it floods. I have only lost bulbs to extreme cold in pots i al talking like minis 20 C below zero. Both my pots bulbs and raised bed bulbs do great. We have milder winters though and my tulips start sprouting late january but i literally saw few poking out already in late Nobember. Maybe you can use leaf mulch to protect them. It soaks lots of water within itself. It also protected my dalia in the raised bed although we jad minus 15 C for few days. Daffodils grow here in very waterlogged heavy clay in direct ground. However i lost all my man improved double blooming species in pots after extremely cold winter while the ones closer to wilder forms are still around.
I planted some wild tulips last year, and those did great but most of all the non native tulip bulbs rotted!
I was planning not to get tulip bulbs but now watching you made me get some 🤭... I am in zone 9b and I use pots containers as well. I used (re-used) last year tulip bulbs that were in bloom from the store and the ones that were in good size did came black this spring. I just water them at planting time and that was it, no more watering and they were ok. I will try some daffodils this coming spring and see what happens bc I did get some rotten bulbs this spring, I am planning just go 3-4 inches deep to prevent rotting instead of 6 with the daffodils. Good luck to everyone with 🌷❤.
You have to let me know how they all turn out in the spring!
I'm not sure where I read or heard it from just recently but the advice was to plant your bulbs on their side so the growth point won't collect water as it opens and will have less of a rot potential. I had never heard this before and have been a gardener for a long time. I'm over in Fort Wayne, IN and I plant my bulbs in ground but had a few rot last year for the first time that was near a downspout so going to try planting on the side as an experiment. I've bought thousands of bulbs and have ordered from Holland Bulb, K.van Bourgondien, Dutch Grown, John Scheepers, Longfield Gardens, and I love Brent and Becky's because they sell Daffs in small quantities so I can get all the specialty ones I want instead of having to buy 25 of just one kind. I have never had any issues with any of these suppliers with variety not being true as ordered or any rotten bulbs delivered in case anyone looking was worried about these online sources. If you are up for it next year maybe try some planted on their sides, I can't imagine having to move so many containers, I get frustrated by just my few annual pots I do that I move into the garage over winter :) your love of gardening is evident!
I am definitely going to try that next year if they rot this year! It’s makes sense to me. I haven’t even started moving the pots down yet and I’m not looking forward to it 🤣
I had all of my daffodils, tulips, hyacinths & alliums come up in spring. I didn’t do anything special to them. Living in the PNW. We have very wet weather. The one thing I had no success with were my crocus. The leaves came up but no flowers. This year the squirrels are on to me. They now know about my garden. Last year was my first year at this property. So now the little monsters have dug up some of my tulips for snacking on. I’ve got most of the beds with bird spikes now to keep them out. I like your tarping idea. I might try that for next year. It would be more simple.
Oh no!!! I’m so glad the squirrels haven’t found their way up here… yet 🤞
I’m so glad you did this video. Was very helpful, thank you! This will be my first year planting bulbs. And they’ll be in containers. I bought them from HD. Crossing fingers my beginner green thumb will shine through. 🤞🌷😊
I made so many mistakes with bulbs too. A lot of my large bulbs rotted, but I got some baby bulbs when I dug everything up after blooming, and now I’ve tossed them into my ground landscape to see what happens. Some of the other baby tulip bulbs I planted in a 12” terracotta pot, and I’m leaving on my deck under a covered area, “mulched” with pine cones so the squirrels don’t get to it, and I DIDNT water them in this time. But I want to see how the pot handles just being outside through the winter, and I’ll moved it more in the sun in probably late March to see what happens.
It’s always fun to experiment and see what works!
Thank you for sharing the info as always. Since all my bulbs were rotten last year, I decided to experiment in two ways this year. I planted crocus and miniature tulips in the planter boxes and tarped them. I put fancier-looking tulip bulbs in the fridge to chill. I am planning to pot them up in the early spring and hopefully, enjoy them in the mid-to late spring. Fingers' crossed. I also live in Chicago.
I love finding other Chicago gardeners! What part of the city are you in?
@@ChicagoGardener Thank you for your response! I live in S Loop. I live in a tiny apartment that has a south-facing small balcony. So I am completely a container gardener. Your videos are always encouraging. Have a great Thanksgiving! Keep warm😀
So Beautiful Video
I admire you vigor. I've given up on bulbs. Planted 60 or so two years in a row and like, 5 one year and 10 the next came up. I'm done😂
This is going to be my last year if it doesn’t work 😆
Oh no, that stinks! I planted about 40 last winter and maybe 2/3 came up but we had a crazy chipmunk population and I saw evidence that they took a bunch. This winter I planted, oh...300. The chipmunk population has been culled (sad, but it was truly out of control) and so far I've only seen that one for sure was taken.
@fuzzypumpkin7743 I think squirrels got some of mine for sure:)
Good Morning! I had the same experience with taking pots out of the garage too soon in March. I also had a large pot that I tested leaving on the covered front porch, which failed 😢
This fall, I’ve decided to put some in my new greenhouse & some in the garage to overwinter.
Here’s hoping your bulbs do well next spring! 🌷🌷🌷
We’ll keep our fingers crossed for each other!! 🤞🤞
amazon sells plastic pop up greenhouses (I got the pear shaped kind) that you can put your individual pots under after you get your pots from the garage in the spring. I cover my pots with tulip bulbs in the fall (or spring) when it rains, then take them off. You don't need to install them, they just unfold, then you can fold them back when you remove them.
I need to look into these! Do you know the brand?
@@ChicagoGardener Here is the ones I have: porayhut Pop Up Greenhouse Cover (pear shaped). I just pop the greenhouses up when it rains, then remove them when it's not raining. It should work for when you bring your planters from the garage in the spring. You can put the planters into those greenhouses, so the soil won't get wet when it rains too much.
Hey girl! Watching now! So my sisters & I garden together! So this year we are doing our first cut flower garden! We have a few vego beds in which we just planted out our cold hardy flower seedlings. We are in SE Texas & rain is a factor too. We have a garden grid for watering that sits on top of the soil, which we are loving BUT instead of tomato cages, we were thinking garden hoops?!? We bought some inexpensive ones from amazon & they are great. So they come as sticks that you just connect to the length (height) you want, then put 1 end into the soil on either side so it makes a hoop shape. Then we covered with some lightweight netting to keep bugs out but you could add some tarps over top of the hoops for rainy days & have space for the foliage!? We will be planting bulbs for the first time too in containers so thank you for sharing all of your experiences. 🩷
Thank you!! Do you know the name of the brand of hoops?
@ I tried to link it but don’t know if that worked. The “store” was called “FuBegi” (?) But you can probably just search “60pcs Garden Hoops for Raised Beds” Hope this helps! Fingers crossed for our bulbs this year! 🤞🏻☺️🌷
I was wondering if you watered them…🌷🌷🌷🌷
They’re getting no water from me or Mother Nature!
HI there!! SUPER excited to see how how this turns out :) What about the temperature? Do you have any concerns about the bulbs freezing?
A little bit, but mostly in smaller pots. In the past, the bulbs usually sprout a bit so I know they made it through winter but then stop growing after the spring rain rots them 😩
@@ChicagoGardener I'm sure it'll be great!! I love watching your show! I had a 50-pot container garden last year, and I'm patiently waiting for this year's gardening start.
Zone 4b here my potted bulbs survived winter last year but all rotted in early spring. This year I planted bulbs only in ground but I put a dozen of each in paper bags in the fridge that'll stay there for the winter (3-4 months) and I'll plant them in pots in spring as an experiment. Is that something you've tried? I found a lot of conflicting information about this.
I haven’t tried it myself but I feel like it should work! They should get the required chill hours in the fridge and then you can plant them in spring. Let me know how it goes for you!
So the ones you put in the garage over the winter, do you water those while they're inside?
I don’t. I’ll water my other perennials but my bulbs get none!
are you going to water those at all this winter? i too have had problem with rot and am planning on covering mine with a clear tarp.
I am not giving them any water all winter!
What zone are you in?
6a!
You keep talking about bulbs rotting and it's just raining away outside 🤦🏻♀️ Maybe it's a good thing I've been so late in squaring away the garden for winter
I’m so glad I got my tarps on before the rain came!
@ChicagoGardener I've got heavy mulch on one flower drawer and a garlic bed, but the other two places I've stuck bulbs are bare except for hardware cloth I put down to keep the squirrel from digging everything up. 😕