It's my guess that it's still too early. You are very far north! Put the mulch back over them and be patient. I betcha they'll put in an appearance before you know it.

Hi!
Thanks for the encouragement; I'm just am so annoyed that other people (in my town) have their crocuses blooming, and daffs putting up leaves. I know mine may be less sheltered, but shouldn't they have tried to make roots? That's the thing that really threw me.

Thanks,
Lara

I wonder if it's possible that 'new' bulbs come up later than established ones? Dunno. Just guessing. I'm in Z5, too, and I don't expect to see signs of activity for a few weeks (tulips). I have no experience with crocus, though, and always thought that they would poke through the last bits of snow before it was gone. Things that make you go 'hmmm.'
But I can identify with you because I got impatient with a couple of my daylilies last year, and dug-em up just LOOKING for signs of activity LOL...did the same thing to a butterfly bush, and tossed it thinking it was dead, not realizing that it was a late starter- DOH!

My recently planted bulbs usually seem to come up later than the established ones. I'm a zone warmer than you, and the crocuses I planted last fall are just starting to poke up. The established crocuses have been blooming happily since March 1st.

I think that since your corms are firm and not rotten they will come up eventually. Pull back the mulch if you like, I have heard that the ground warms up faster without it. Then hands off, missy!

My tulips planted last fall are smaller than the ones that had not been lifted. Tulips which had not been lifted are the tallest, up to 4 inches, last year's bloomers that had been lifted and replanted are half their size, and brand new tulip bulbs planted in the fall only begin to come up - only tips are visible, 1 inch or smaller.

Some crocuses tend to be fussy. I planted several varieties years ago and only one keeps reappearing (looks like it may be Pickwick, it's striped), the rest bloomed once or twice and disappeared.

I have been planting a few new bulbs every year, of many species, for years. For some reason the ones planted the autumn before always seem to come up later than the ones planted in previous years. I don't know whether it takes them time to get established, or maybe they had been grown in a different zone & are running on that clock, or what.

Of course, with tulips you might as well treat most of them as annuals.

Anna Beth, maybe someone is eating your crocuses? If so, try tommasianus species, supposedly less attractive to crocus munchers.

I planted a bunch of new crocus last year; they are not blooming while the ones from previous years are blooming merrily away. This extends the bulb season, if you think about it!

Lil greenfrog, if they are not rotten in their holes, just leave them be & they will come up when the ground warms & the sun calls them!

Depends on what you planted as well. Good luck :)

Green Frog, bulbs didn't bloom...didn't grow roots.

There are reasons why bulbs do not produce and I believe if you planted them last fall, and they haven't produced roots by now, they probably wont....at least not this year, maybe next year.

Too wet of soil when first planted.
Too dry...and you didn't water them when first planted.
Too shallow....the heat of autumn dried them up.
Too deep....the cold didn't reach them sufficiently.
Not enough sunlight.....too deep of shade.
You overfed them....or overwatered them.
A disease got into them and stopped further production.

or they were just bad bulbs.
Often, bulbs in "deals" are poor examples and the dealer is well rid of them. Hence the reason to buy early and get the best sized bulbs.

I'd be interested to know what advice you were given last fall about 'how to amend your clay soil'.
Organic material is often suggested to be good for soil...it holds moisture. That's true....but individual holes should not be amended just prior to planting a bulb.
The added moisture surrounding a bulb can begin to rot it before it gets a chance to form roots.
Better to amend a wide planting bed, then look to drainage before individually planting bulbs.

Clay soil is often given such organic material and sand---coarse builder's sand....is sometimes advised to aid in drainage.

You have dug down and found the soil moist...easily workable. I have to think the mulch you gave it kept the soil too warm....it wasn't given cold enough to form roots.

If in the next few weeks, you still find the bulbs without roots, I suggest you dig them up and try to store them.
That will be a problem.

To leave them in the ground without roots will probably end up in their rotting or being on the menu for squirrels and skunks and coons.

Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for all the info and encouragement.
Jeannie - I learned my lesson about ammending holes...I dug out entire beds, put gravel in the bottom, and mixed in a bunch of peat/compost with the clay and then put it back in the bed. I did water them a tiny bit, and it got cold soon afterward. I'll wait a little while, but then I'll certainly go looking for ones that haven't sprouted in hopes of saving them. Thanks!

Anyway, I don't know how many will eventually sprout, but today we went out and found several sprouts, in multiple beds. Many I've never grown, so I can't ID them from leaves, but several different types of SOMETHINGS are coming up! I'm SO HAPPY!

Is bone meal what you all feed with when they sprout? Or should I look for something else?

Thanks, everybody!
Lara