Growing bulbs in raised beds

10 years ago

I've been planting bulbs for 30 years and except for reminding myself about planting depth I don't usually bother with the rest of the instructions. With nothing better to do, I read the "fine print" about planting tulips from my Scheepers order and was surprised that they strongly cautioned against planting bulbs in raised beds because the temperatures can fluctuate more than in ground. I've always planted some in raised beds for cutting. Sometimes they grow fine, sometimes the results are mediocre.

Just curious, if you've grown bulbs in raised beds what's your experience? Not talking about species or very late tulips... April blooming greggii etc

Featured Answer

User

10 years ago

If we could include large pots as similar to raised beds, the tulips planted in pots are often inclined to break up into daughter bulbs too readily to sustain regular perennial behaviour - in fact, in the UK at least, it is generally assumed that tulips in pots are essentially an annual investment. I had assumed the looseness and friability of potting mediums might be a factor since bulbs grown in the opern ground do seem to stay more intact, maybe putting out a very small daughter offset which would take a few years to reach flowering maturity. Certainly, a tulip patch in the ground doesn't increase as readily as narcissi or snowdrops which will often double in size every year.

On the other hand, many bulbs are grown in a special bulbframe - essentially a kind of raised bed...so I think, like all gardening, there are pluses and negatives. I always meant to try tulips in pots over several seasons as the second year in a pot is always rubbish...but I often considered disbudding them and growing on for another season...but, like many of my experiments, consigned to the dustbin of neglect.

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Comments (14)

User
10 years ago
That is interesting. I have never heard or read that. Have you tried googling to see if you could find more info about that?
Marie Tulin Boston burbs z 6a
Original Author
10 years ago
no, but I will.
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katob Z6ish, NE Pa
10 years ago
I wonder if they mean something more like a raised planter? I never have much luck growing in planters or containers and I could see a raised bed with thin wooden sides as also having problems.

.... Raised beds though, I plant many bulbs in the slightly raised beds of the vegetable garden and they never give me any trouble.
Marie Tulin Boston burbs z 6a
Original Author
10 years ago
I read a little and only came upon the original information again. Several articles mention planting in raised beds casually, as though it is simply another choice. I really didn't find any other cautions or recommendations against it.

I also wondered if their definition of raised beds might be different from my usage. Odd though, because it was Scheepers/Van Engelen one of most reputable

mail order bulb companies in the US.
User
10 years ago
Do they have a customer service/help line that you could call or email and ask about this?
Marie Tulin Boston burbs z 6a
Original Author
10 years ago
I'm not going to bother. I'm going to plant what I planned on planting in the bed. It has worked before.
User
10 years ago
Marie Tulin - that's exactly what I would do. If it has worked before, then it should still be fine.
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
10 years ago
I have plenty of bulbs planted in my raised beds, which are large and 2 tiered. No problems with them.
User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I think they say that to caution against planting bulbs that are marginally hardy in your area in raised beds and It probably applies only to us growers in very cold zones.

Here in my zone 2 I can grow tulips but only if they are buried deep, about 6 inches. The problem here is, that when the air gets to minus 40 degrees in winter a bulb under the ground will not get that cold but in a raised bed the ground not only freezes from the top but in from the sides as well, making the bed temperature much lower than it would get otherwise.

We apply that rule to many plants up here, strawberries come to mind.
Marie Tulin Boston burbs z 6a
Original Author
10 years ago
Interesting, ubro. Where in zone 2a? I'm trying to imagine.....
User
10 years ago
North central Saskatchewan, in the northern lakes area. Lots of cattle and grain farms, but not flat land. Cold in the winter often -40F and slightly colder, but very sunny. Summer can be as high as 100F on occasion, and again lots of sun. but we have a short growing season, the long days make up for that.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
10 years ago
I agree with Ubro that the cold and temperature fluctuations apply more to bulbs that are borderline. We are on the edge for some varieties of garlic, and I have friends who garden in raised beds who were never successful with garlic until they planted it in a non-raised bed.
User
10 years ago
I find that my lilies in pots behave as Campanula's tulips. If I grow them in large containers they never make a proper bulb for planting out in the fall, but if I put them in a garden row they continuously increase and live a long time.