Easy Gardening Tip ~ Planting & Sharing Bulbs
Thalia and Tete-a-Tete Narcissus
When you are planting bulbs in the fall, do you find yourself scratching your head trying to remember where you needed a few more of this or that? The remedy is actually quick and easy, and I cannot believe it took me all these years of gardening to figure it out!
Just plant the bulbs in your raised garden bed! How easy is that?
Last fall, I planted about 300 bulbs in our raised vegetable garden beds after fall clean-up. This spring, up they came, ready to be lifted and replanted or shared.
The beauty of this is now I could plant them while all the other spring-blooming bulbs are up! No more guesswork about where to plant or digging into existing bulbs (confess – you have done it too!). And I have extras to share during our garden gild’s annual plant exchange!
Here’s what I did!
In early November, I planted those 3oo bulbs in our raised bed garden. It was much easier and faster to plunk them into loose soil and tamp them in. Plus, I wasn’t outside freezing while I was doing it! You can also protect bulbs from rodents by anchoring wire mesh on top of this planting so they don’t have a bulb buffet during winter.
Bulbs coming up in the raised garden bed.
In spring, gently loosen and lift the growing bulbs from the raised bed garden soil. Now they can be shared with your gardening friends or placed in the garden while you can see where they are needed.
Bulbs pulled up from the planting bed.
These “Tete-a-Tete” narcissus start blooming almost as soon as the buds clear the ground. They stretch upward and grow taller, blooming for two to three weeks, often even more. And, they are very critter resistant!
Tete-a-Tete Narcissus blooming in the raised garden bed.
“Thalia” Narcissus are one of my favorite early spring-flowering bulbs. White, with a faint fragrance, they are wonderful for an old-fashioned cottage garden and a pop of white in the flowerbed.
“Thalia” Narcissus ~ a fragrant, white perennial bulb
Some of the bulbs were for sharing. I placed three bulbs in each sandwich bag, labeling the bulb name. Do label the bags first with a permanent pen or marker as the bulbs will make writing on the bags difficult.
Label bags then insert bulbs for sharing!
Narcissus Bulbs in sandwich bags to share.
So now I have filled in those flowerbed gaps and bundled up a batch for others too. Here’s my basket of “Thalia” and “Tete-a-Tete” narcissus bagged up and ready to share at our garden gild plant exchange. Don’t forget to print out and share planting instructions for those who need them too!
Basket of Spring Bulbs for Sharing!
Here’s another great tip from Our Fairfield Home and Garden! Make Hose Guides For Next to Nothing!
Make Hose Guides From Curtain Rods!
Oh my goodness, what a great idea! I was just looking at my flower beds and thinking about the spots that need more daffodils. But of course I never remember where those spots are by fall. And I have raised bed vegetable gardens, so this would be so easy. Thanks for sharing!
You are so welcome, Sharon! I have no idea why we didn’t thik of this before – it is a no-brainer! :)
I have several of these (now I know they are Narcissus and I think it’s a fantastic idea to make gifts out of them.
It’s a perfect Earth’s Day idea.
Thanks for writing! I am happy to have helped you ID your plants! Happy Gardening!