Save tender bulbs to plant again

The next days will bring cooler temperatures, and autumn‘s first frost is on the way. Colder weather affects tender bulbs, but with minimal work, you can save them to enjoy their flowers again next spring.

Summer-blooming dahlias, cannas, calla lilies, tuberoses and some gladioli can‘t survive our winters in zone 6, but there‘s no need to let them die. I have hardy glads which remain in place and bloom reliably every year, but other gladioli are not hardy.

We tend to call all in this group bulbs, even though some are corms, rhizomes or tubers, but for simplicity‘s sake I will refer to all as bulbs.

Each bulb stores energy enough to resurrect the plant contained within it for the next season, and often for many years.

The first frost may kill top foliage, or a hard freeze will. After foliage yellows and dies back, carefully lift bulbs with a garden fork, leaving some stem if possible, and brush most soil away. If any tissue appears diseased or damaged, discard the bulb.

Let bulbs cure for a few days in a dry, well-ventilated place. They need to dry completely so they don‘ t rot over winter.

Next, barely moisten some peat moss or vermiculite and line a crate or even a shoebox to nestle bulbs in. You may use net bags lined first with newspaper, but this could prove difficult since all bulbs should be kept from touching. Don‘t forget to label your plants.

Store the box in a cool, dry, dark place, perhaps a shed, although I put mine in the closet of a non-heated room. Make a calendar note on an early January date in 2022 to check bulbs. If they appear too shriveled or dry, spritz a tiny bit of tepid water on them.

Unlike these summer bloomers, spring-blooming bulbs often remain in place for decades. You may know of an abandoned property where clumps of daffodils still bloom each March where a house once stood. Others in this category are species and Darwin tulips, crocus, hyacinths, scillas, Camassia, allium, and blackberry lily, recently renamed Iris domestica.

If you have caladiums, do the same with them, and at the same time break the top four inches of coleus, tuberous begonias and impatiens. Remove bottom leaves and root pieces in water to plant later in soil. As they stretch over winter, pinch them back and they will branch out, ready to set in shaded gardens next May or June.

Sharon Daniels is a Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteer.