I saw bags of fancy tulip bulbs at Wal-mart today, marked down from $10 or $11 to $1.99. The ground is not frozen here yet but I assume it's too late to plant them because the ground will freeze before they get rooted good.
Do tulips do well forced indoors? I know they would need to be refrigerated, although I'm not sure for how long. Thanks for any info.
Bob
I'd go for it, unless you're in the mood to force bulbs. An old faq:
A. Why did WalMart mark them down? Could they be, uh, un-good?
B. Why would you, or anybody, want to shop at WalMart?
Because they are clearing them out -- it's past their season. The bulbs look perfectly healthy.
It's the only place in town to buy Cabot cheese, which I like very much.
Best regards, Bob
Wow, man, where do you live? If there's a Trader Joe anywhere near, run, do not walk; I am also a Cabot cheese freak, and there's where I buy it. Their prices are very reasonable. For example, milk is $1.50 in the supermarket, and $.99 at TJ.
If there are any health food-type stores near you (Wild Oats, that kind of thing) they usually have Cabot.
Don't mean to get in your face, but WalMart is so thoroughly vicious that I hate to see them make a dime off us gardeners.
There was a Frontline (PBS) program last year entitled something like "Is Walmart Good for Us". Well worth looking up on the Web; often they have streaming video of past programs.
What really shocked me was the way they described Walmart's predatory tactics vis-a-vis their suppliers. They bullied suppliers into lowering their prices so far that sometimes the suppliers HAD TO GO OFF-SHORE to stay in business, even if they hated leaving their communities and taking jobs away from the locals.
Talk about a ripple effect!
Plus, the taxpayers have to pick up the health care tab for these badly-paid employees, who often have to put their children on Medicaid.
(takes deep breath...)
Persephone
came up just fine. I'm in Indiana.
anyhow, Bob, the message is: plant the bulbs outside. I planted some up to a few days before the ground froze, and they came up.
Yep. I'll get a couple of packages tomorrow if there are any left.
Best regards, Bob
You really can plan them right up until the ground freezes......Have had really good luck with this and usually plant them in container, putting them in as they say "cheek to jowl"...I did see on a network gardening show that you will probably only get about 2 years out of the bulbs...but I have some still going strong for 4-5 years....I do plant some in the ground...but only if I plan daffodils on top of them to keep the squirrels from eating the tulips....(I put small gauge chicken wire over the top of the containers until tulips break ground in the spring... My neighbors plant their tulips in the ground but in a chicken wire "cage" to protect from Squirrels/rabbits/etc.) Good luck!....SW Washington
Certain tulips force well. Do a google for the varieties. (Offhand, Angelique and Pink Impression will force well. They need 16 weeks of chilling in the fridge to force.)
Listen, Bob -- I'm in Alaska -- we got 2 foot of snow last week, before the ground froze. I'm *still* planting tulips and daffodils out in the yard. It's a PITA, as I have to shovel the snow off the ground, dig, kneel down, get not just muddy but *wet*, plant, cover, mulch, then shovel the snow back over the spot. But for us who live in northern places, flowers in spring are a Big Deal.
I'm also forcing a lot of bulbs this year, because I didn't get everything planted before the snow came. Pink Impression tulips, Dutch Master daffodils, Salome daffodils, Gigantic Star daffodils, Apricot Beauty tulips, Angelique tulips. I'm forcing bulbs to give for gifts to my friends who need flowers in the depth of winter, like I do.
I'm putting my pots of forcing bulbs into the root cellar, as our fridge is too crowded. The root cellar holds at 42F. year round.
Email me and I'll send you all of the .pdf's I've gathered, trying to figure out how to force these bulbs.
Jan Zone 3 or 4 depending on who you ask Homer, Alaska
Yep. You can plant them in the ground until the ground is too frozen.
As to why they'd be on sale -- the way the seasons are rushed ahead of time, the store probably had to make room for the poinsettias! Suzy O Zone 5, Wisconsin
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