Expert: Long Island Gardener - 1/16/2008

Question
It is January and either my daffodils or my tulips are coming up already. Isn't it too soon? I am worried they will freeze. I have mulch on them but they have already broke through that. Should I put straw on top?  I planted them both together for variety so I am not sure which one it is that is coming up

Answer
Coast to Coast, desperate gardeners are watching the thermometer, checking signs of garden life, hoping that when Spring is sprung two months from now their Bulbs will still have a pulse and a heartbeat.  You are in good company, Renee.

We can pretty much count on a hard freeze being in the future for us.  Some gardeners find that the early-sprouting foliage shrivels and yellows as the temps plunge.  Some Bulbs sprout leaves, then bloom in Spring as though nothing had ever gone wrong.  Others turn into a clump of defrosted mush.

It is safe to assume the Bulbs themselves have been weakened.  But only a connoisseur recognizes blemishes in blooms that sprout from one of those weakened Bulbs.

I know one gardener who watches her Daffodils bloom in the bitterest cold; when they freeze, she cuts them and they thaw in a vase indoors.  She claims she sees no evidence of damage in bloom during subsequent years.

Others I know find that more leaves sprout from the same bulbs that bloomed too early.  But the Spring blooms look as though they've been to Hell and back, and the bulb seems to have been damaged so badly it never does look as appealing as it did before the deep freeze.

In my area, Zone 7, which may be milder than your Zone (you did not mention your location), unprotected early Tulip and Daffodil leaves sometimes show damage.  Blooms do not.  There is a bit of 'antifreeze' in these plants.  It won't work perfectly, but for a short while it is enough.

So we go back to the usual plan of action that I always have:

Fill several empty garbage pails with Straw (or you can use dry leaves) and mound over early sprouting Bulbs.  If it snows, you can toss some snow over them to keep them from blowing away.  If you can get the shovel into the ground and it is not frozen solid, sprinkle the tops with dirt - or get some sand or other mulching material from Home Depot and cover the leaves just enough to keep them in place over your Bulbs.  Say 3 Hail Marys and 1 Our Father, then go inside and wait.

The dry leaves are insulation from the merciless temperatures and will help to lessen fluctuations in the thermometer for the next few weeks.

Both are bad for Bulbs at this time of year.

Come Spring, or at least as we approach it, remove the leaves and expose the growth.  Then come back to the computer and let me know how things are going.

And next year, assuming the USA is not under water due to Global Warming and rising ocean levels, we must all plan to dig another 3-6 inches deeper into the ground when putting Spring bulbs in place.

Thanks for writing.  I look forward to your updates.  Any followups, let me know.