Hi Faith,

I am no expert at all but here is what I would do. I would try to plant them asap. If you haven't had time to prepare the permanent home for them, perhaps planting them in a pot and transplant them again in the Fall.

Hi Faith,

Since they were dug up before the foliage had time to die down "naturally," I suspect you're going to lose next year's blooms no matter what you do. Even if you were to replant them now the foliage would continue to rapidly die down without being able to "recharge" for next spring.

Heading into the hot season, I think I'd recommend sticking them in the fridge until the "right time" to plant them in fall--that would be after the soil is starting to cool down at least some. If that's what you decide to do, I think doing it as soon as possible would be the best. Since they still have "dying down" foliage on them I think I'd stick them in a paper bag to start with, then watch them and when the foliage is completely brown and they're starting to dry out some you could cut most of the foliage off and stick them in a "well ventilated" plastic bag--one with the top open for sure, and maybe some holes punched in it too. With their having been dug in spring during their "main growing season" they're going to have a lot more moisture in them than the bulbs you buy in fall--if they don't have enough ventilation I think they could start to rot fairly easily. Being refrigerated, you could even try just keeping them in paper until fall--and keep an eye on them to be sure they don't start to desiccate.

If you go with the cold storage way to handle it I'm pretty sure you won't get any flowers next spring, but just let them grow and do their own thing until the foliage dies down naturally and the following year you should be back on track!

When you're deciding where to replant them, consider the Ugly Factor, and if possible plant them behind something that will be tall enough by the time they finish blooming to help hide the dying foliage somewhat!

Skybird

Thanks, ladies!