I ordered my bulbs in August and they haven't arrived yet. My bulb company insists that they will ship in time for planting BUT from what I read online, the majority of the sites indicate that bulbs for spring flowering should be planted BEFORE the first frost. We've passed our first frost date and have already had a hard freeze and my order is not slated to arrive until mid-November due to quality issues with bulb processing.
Living in the Pacific Northwest means that we'll have some warmer days (today it's 50 degrees) and some colder days (likely a few days below freezing in the next two weeks). The sun left our property in early October so despite the warm temperature, I have to bundle up to work outside in the shade. I'm located in a rural area so my temperatures are colder than those around Puget Sound.
I see that at least one bulb company says that zone 8 bulbs can be planted until December. But my brother (also Zone 8) indicated that when he planted bulbs in November and December, none of his came up (there could be other reasons for that). I've had plenty of success planting bulbs to date (tulips [planted in bulb cages], daffodils, snowdrop lilies) BUT those bulbs were planted in late September.
My question: What are the rules around bulb planting (tulips, daffodils, crocuses & snowdrop lilies)? Should I cancel my order as I can expect to lose all of these bulbs? Or can I plant as late as December? If I'm planting late in the season, is there anything additional I should do to ensure these bulbs will come up? Thank you.
