Gardening Tips: Plant Fall Bulbs For Spring Bloom

First frost signals that it's time to plant fall bulbs before the ground freezes hard. I'm Lisa Hilgenberg from Chicago Botanic Garden with your gardening tips for the week.

Colorful spring blooming daffodils should be planted now so they have time to develop a good root system before winter. Bulb catalogues show thousands of varieties categorized by flower type in a limited color range of yellow, orange, pinkish and white. 'Stainless' and 'Mount Hood' are two favorite cultivars.

Daffodils and snowdrops like bulbs in the onion family are generally wildlife resistant. They won't be dug up by rodents, squirrels this fall or be eaten by deer or rabbits in the spring.

Late in the fall until Thanksgiving is the best time to dig tulip bulbs into the garden. Unlike daffodils they do not need time to root in and a later planting leaves less chance of disease.

Avoid using bone meal at planting time because it attracts animals, but do top dress with a slow release fertilizer this fall and again in the spring when foliage begins to grow. Organic gardeners can try rock phosphate and greensand amendments.

Edible bulbs like garlic, shallot and onion can be planted before Halloween for harvest next July. Buy quality bulbs from a garden center or seed company. Divide the garlic into individual cloves taking care to keep the papery wrapper called the tunic- intact.

As with all bulbs, planting depth should be 3 x the diameter of the bulb, spaced about 2" apart. A blanket of mulch benefits all newly planted bulbs.

Lisa Hilgenberg is the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden Horticulturist. She teaches classes for the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden and mentors interns from the Garden's urban agriculture programs in the summer. Lisa draws on a rich family farming tradition, having spent many summers on her grandparents' farms in Iowa and Minnesota. You can follow Lisa on Twitter @hilgenberg8.