Muscari in December

[Joe]

I live in Zone 3A and have a mixed rose border with lots of bulbs in it. I applied a heavy mulch of leaves over my bulbs a good while after freeze-up. This is the third year I do this mulching.

Now I looked under and lots of Muscari are poking up. Oh dear. There must have been more heat still trapped in there than I thought.

What's odd is I thought this growth could not happen without a good hard cold dormancy period. My tulips, narcissi and everything else are not coming up. I certainly can't save the muscari from the rest of winter. So I just put the leaves back.

[Vox Humana]

Don't worry about it. Nothing will kill them and eventually they will take over your bed. Mine have been up for a couple of moths here in zone 6. They will be just fine and bloom as expected in the spring.

[madgardener]

I live in Zone 3A and have a mixed rose border with lots of bulbs in it. I applied a heavy mulch of leaves over my bulbs a good while after freeze-up.

This is the third year I do this mulching.

Mulching is always good, especially in Zone 3 a..........(where on earth do you garden, Joe??....brrrrrrrr)

Now I looked under and lots of Muscari are poking up. Oh dear. There must have been more heat still trapped in there than I thought.

Not a problem. Muscari send up their grassy foliage first, and THEN the little conical "helmets" of flowers..........

What's odd is I thought this growth could not happen without a good hard cold dormancy period. My tulips, narcissi and everything else are not coming up.

Those bulbs are way smarter than the muscari. And the muscari are tough, they'll be fine. The others will wait until true springtime to show their noses....

I certainly can't save the muscari from the rest of winter. So I just put the leaves back.

You did fine. They'll bloom in late January or February (or the normal month when yours bloom) and unless you have no snow cover, they'll survive just fine. With a zone as cold as yours, snow cover is the best friend your bulbs have got!

madgardener, up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36

[Vox Humana]

Maybe not. I have tulips planted between my hostas. When I cleared away the last of the dead hosta leaves two weeks ago, I noticed that the tulips had begun to emerge. I have some alliums inter-planted with daylilies and they are also sending up foliage. My Dutch iris are up about 18 inches.

[Cereus-validus...]

You are not very observant. Muscari send up their foliage in the autumn every year with no harm to the plant.

[SugarChile]

Worry not, muscari are infamous for doing this. I would find it unusual if they did NOT emerge in fall. They are always just fine come spring here in zone 6, and I suspect they will be ok for you as well. At worst the foliage will look a bit ratty, but the blooms will be ok.

Do you have reliable snow cover over the winter? Ours is sporadic; bare ground and very low temperatures are tough on plants, but snow cover is like an insulating blanket.

Cheers, Sue

[madgardener]

and my Dutch iris have sent up their foliage as well and I noticed on my way up the little road to the post office on the hilltop that overlooks Dandridge and the lake and first mountain, the little clump of Dutch iris I planted for Deloras (who sold the house years ago) are up as well, but they're next to the stone wall facing west in a sheltered sort of way.......could be the bulbs come up because they're fooled. maddie>

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[madgardener]

as do mine every year. Maybe since Joe gardens in zone 3, it's either too frelling cold to be observing foliage on his muscari plantings or they're covered by now with a good blanket of snow! maddie

[paghat]

Unlike the majority of grape hyacinths, Muscari botryoides as a rule produces autumn grass, though it blooms in spring the same time as other species. Having never gardened in a really cold place, I dunno if the muscari grass will thrive in zone 3A, though I'd think it'd be done in by a good freeze, unlike my zone 8 where it stays lovely & nice all winter long.

-paghat the ratgirl

[Warren]

Last winter was the worst winter in years here. We had a great number of nights below freezing, numerous days below freezing, and even a three day stretch below zero. My Muscari foliage was even encased in ice. They bloomed just fine when spring came.

I can't say the same for the buddleia next to them that became so weighted-down with ice that the trunk split. I didn't think anything short of digging it out of the ground would kill it, but Ma Nature proved me wrong on that one!

[Joe]

Thanks ;-) love you too.

[Joe]

Alberta. Actually most hardy bulbs love it here, the conditions are just like back home in central Asia.

Yes, a revelation about Muscari. I had no idea.

The snow is at times unreliable, like now. Leaves or whatever are very important for moderating those temperature swings.

[Joe]

Thanks Sue. We can't count on good snow, the nearby mountains tend to cause a precipitation shadow, and the high winds often evaporate whats left. It's a real challenge gardening here. But despite that it's a rewarding activity.