You might have seen some flurries this week, but there is still time for a couple projects before the snow flies and the ground freezes. If you have been growing tender semi-perennial bulbs or tubers in your gardens, such as dahlias, gladiolas and cannas, this is the time of year to pull them out and overwinter them for next season. 

Start by cutting back any remaining foliage so there are only an inch or so remaining above the ground. Carefully dig the bulbs or tubers out of the ground and shake off any of the dirt that could be remaining on the bulbs. Bring your bulbs in and give them a good rinse in the sink. 

Let them air dry completely, which could take anywhere from a couple hours to a day. With my wood pellet stove going right now the humidity in my house is only about forty percent and my bulbs dry thoroughly in only a couple hours. The most important step here will be your actual storage. 

You want to keep these bulbs as dry as you can to prevent any mold or rotting. A dry packaging material like pine shavings are good to keep the bulbs dry through the winter. Store your bulbs in a cool location that does not freeze. A cold basement or an insulated garage that doesn’t freeze would be best. 

Don’t do all the work to blow it in the end by placing your bulbs in a shed or in the basement near a wood stove. If you only have a few bulbs, you can put them in the refrigerator in the back of a bottom shelf. Do not put them in the vegetable drawers as they are designed to preserve moisture so that your vegetables don’t dry out. Your bulbs don’t want moisture as this will mold them. Also do not store your bulbs in a plastic bag, use paper bags only. 

This is also a good time to plant spring bulbs before the ground freezes. In order for spring bulbs, like daffodils, crocus, tulips, hyacinths and others, to bloom properly in the spring the bulb needs to remain dormant. This is why planting in the fall is so important when the temperatures fall. 

If you plant them too early and get one of our seventy degree temperature weeks, the bulbs could sprout only to die back again when it gets cold again. Depending on what type of bulb you have chosen to grow you will want to refer to the package instructions for bulb planting depth and spacing. Crocus are very shallow bulbs while tulips and daffodils go down around four inches. 

If you have spring bulbs already in a flowerbed, don’t forget to feed them now for beautiful blooms in the spring. Bone Meal is the organic fertilizer of choice and the only fertilizer I would recommend for new bulbs just planted as it is milder, but Triple Super Phosphate is cheaper and quicker to use as a little goes a long way. 

Either way, fertilize now for better blooms in the spring, as once the bulbs are growing in the spring fertilizing doesn’t help much as bulbs do not have a long bloom season. They are not like a marigold or petunia that blooms for months and needs to by fed multiple times. Bulbs flower once and then they are done until next year, so fertilizing at the right time is very important.