In a word, no. Bulbs can be planted at any time after they show up in stores or nurseries, usually right around Labor Day. I'd rather plant when it is warmer and slightly drier than is typical in December in this area and even planting in a relatively warm September generally doesn't cause problems or early sprouting. In the weather we've been having and with temperatures as cool as they are, you have nothing to worry about.

ps - don't believe everything you read in Sunset - they dispense quite a lot of misinformation, especially with regards to the Puget Sound area and appropriate plants and planting techniques.

Thank you! I thought it was probably okay, but this co-worker seems to know her stuff (well-informed in gardening info) and was a little surprised she came up with that.

Here it is not even Winter and I can't wait for Spring!

I just spent all morning on the nice, dry day planting lots of bulbs. One combo is 'Queen of Night' black-purple Tulips and 'Pink Diamond' light pink Tulips, in the same bed as 'Mt. Hood' White Narcissus. That should look really nice! :o)

December is when you might do it in California. That is probably what "Sunset" was suggesting, if you read the piece yourself you might find that to be the case. Best to shop and plant as soon as they come in. Arboretum Foundation just had annual bulb sale in Seattle, October is prime time for spring bulb planting (fall-blooming bulbs ideally get planted sooner, if you look for things like meadow saffron (Colchicum) you are likely to find any still left at garden centers to have been flowering right on the shelf).

And still more on the same subject... do bulbs need to be planted as soon as they're bought? If not, do they need to be stored in a certain way?

Cool and dry. Some don't want to be out of the ground very long, snowdrops, for instance have been claimed to be best bought "in the green" (as active plants, rather than dried bulbs).

It's also recommended to plant lily bulbs as soon as possible. Since they do not go fully dormant like many other bulbs, they are especially vulnerable to dessication out of the ground. Storing lilies for any length of time is not suggested.

Ellen, I would leave the walnut foliage out of the mulch, as it may be poisonous to many plants.

Great thread! My questions were answered today, so I didn't need to post my own thread!

Thanks undercover_owl! ;-)

We definitely clean up as much Walnut debris as we can- we have an 8 month old puppy that is still very mouthy. Thankfully she doesn't seem to go after the multitudes of nut/fruit that fall from the tree (geez, they come down so hard they would probably knock you out if your in it's path!) even though they do look a lot like tennis balls.

If you have squirrels around, I have to warn you that I have lost the majority of Tulip bulbs (except for some species Tulips which are apparently not as tasty) to squirrels, and half of the fall-planted lilies. You might try putting something over the planting site like chicken wire if you don't want to lose them. I just got my Bulbmeister order and didn't mark the sites of the Tulips that made it last year so I don't know where to plant the replacements.:-( I'll have to hope I don't dig into many.

I've never seen them indications of squirrels messing with tulips, crocuses on the other hand...deer do eat tulip flowers.

Not the Tulip flowers, or even established Tulips, but newly planted Tulip bulbs, and also lilies. I thought species Tulips were not bothered but they got most of my T. wilsoniana and 1/3 of my T. vvedensky last year so I'm going to put on chicken wire after I plant this year. I think they can tell the ground is disturbed or smell the fertilizer.