That's the rule I go by and it seems to work. Handy reminder, Jill.

I had heard that planting up here, I shouldn't plant them so very deep, like 8". And I know this gets asked often, but 8" from soil surface to top of bulb?

8" is very deep, Mary. None of my bulbs are anywhere that deep. I would guess the only reason to plant so deep is that the ground freezes and you might want the bulbs deeper than that freeze-line. Since our ground never truly freezes, I don't really know though.

"Deep" is measured from the bottom of the bulb to the soil surface. But you're not the only one that gets confused, Mary. When general gardeners give advice, take it with a grain of salt, because they might be using the "other method" for depth, not knowing. (More often, they don't know the answer themselves, and are just repeating what they hear.) The smart ones that take the time and courtesy to explain a complete thought. They are the ones you want to befriend for advice.

Yes, in colder zones we plant deeper. But one can't plant "below the freeze-line in the soil". Mine, and Mary's , can be several feet deep! You are also confined to staying within the realm of good soil with ample drainage and aeration. The advantage of lower depths in cold zones is not as much temperature extremes, but temperature moderation, so seasonal changes in temperature happen more gradually and plant tissues have a sufficient time to adapt.

Good explanation, Rick. Never having lived in an area that "really" freezes (soil, that is), other than what I read, I had no clue as to depth of planting.

"Yes, in colder zones we plant deeper. But one can't plant "below the freeze-line in the soil". "

Last winter (not this one that's just ending) the ground here was frozen 6 feet down!

Holy cow. How do you keep your pipes from freezing?

Freezing pipes was a huge issue up here that winter, LOTS of broken water pipes, including water mains in town... fortunately we had no problems at our house, though Our water line is buried pretty deeply, around 7 feet down, and we had a very heavy snow cover that year as well as the cold temps; most of the problems seemed to occur where people had plowed the snow so the pipes didn't have that insulating layer.

What I can't imagine is how people survived winters in the north in the "olden days." (they must have been a heck of a lot tougher than I am!)

Shoot, I don't know how you survive them today! If our pipes are buried three feet, that's deep! And the only reason they are three feet deep is so that people won't be digging them up. Two feet digging is the max for most of us.

I will say that I'm glad I don't have to use an outhouse...

Boy, is that right!

especially during an UP winter!

This is one of the tips I submitted early on... Trish or Dave must have dug it up LOL.

I put some bulbs (daffs especially) into holes more like 2 to 3 times their diameter. In our clay soil, they just seem to do better planted a little more shallowly. My young garden helper does better with the idea that the bulbs need to end up deep enough that you could stack 2 bulbs on top of each other in the hole... or, however big the bulb is, that's how much soil needs to be on top of it once the hole is filled in. When the soil is most & soft, we just push "little bulbs" down in with a finger.

BTW, I've learned that lilies have contractile roots (how cool is that??) and will pull themselves down to their preferred depth. So if you're planting lilies this spring, you don't have to knock yourself out making 8 inch deep holes...

They wouldn't pull them selves down through my clay, Jill.

They manage to go deeper in my clay soil, which is pretty dense even where it's been amended. Roots are strong! I can dig holes 5" or 6" deep, but in many garden areas that's about it, because if I go lower I'm in subsoil-type clay -- and I'm pretty sure bulbs would drown, starve, & die in that stuff!