Daffodil storage?

[wowomom]

I dug up some daffodils earlier to remake a flower bed. They had finished blooming but still had their green tops. They were matted together with some wonderful Tennessee clay dirt and centipede grass so I couldn't get them seperated and replanted the way I wanted to. What wound up happening was that I tossed them in a pile next to the front

Comments

[rhodielady_47]

Actually you really need to get them back into the ground!
Leaving them out in the open air until this fall will dehydrate them so much they won't bloom for you next spring.
I like to plant them in small groups of ten or less bulbs out in my flowerbeds and then plant something that sprawls like Walker's Low Nepeta in front of them to hide their dying foliage. You could also plant them in small groups out in your lawn too. Just be sure you space them far enough apart so that you can mow between them.
If you wish you had more of these daffodils, you could multiply them the way the Dutch do by "Bulb Chipping".
(Pick one or two of the biggest bulbs for it.)
Hope this helps. (I have a couple thousand daffs so I know what I'm talking about.)
:)

[icelore]

I use a burlap sack filled with slightly damp moss to hold mine. It keeps them from drying out till I put them in the ground in the fall. If they stay too dry, they won't bloom for you in the spring, so wherever you put them, remember they need some moisture. Obviously you don't want them damp or they will mold/rot, but they can't dry out either!

[low_delta]

Why can't you plant them now? If not in their homes for next spring, how about a "storage" bed, and dig them up and replant in the fall?

[rhysande]

You can plant them now if you wish or store them until fall. Just make sure they stay in a cool, dark, humid but not wet, environment

[rhodielady_47]

Amen on softening up clay before you try to separate bulbs or rhizomes!
Once you get them out of the clay, you can cut daylily or iris clumps apart with a knife.
You can often tease bulblets off of the larger daffodil, grape hyacinth, glad bulbs with a bit of gentle pressure.
Just remember:
If it won't come easily, it ain't ready to leave "momma"!
;)

[virginiadear]

I believe most gardeners customarily relocate their hardy spring-flowering bulbs in the fall, so that for the bulbs it's a lot like a regular planting and causes the bulbs the least amount of stress.

That said, what is more important than when the bulbs are relocated to a new bed is how long they have to wait out of the ground before they get to their new bed, particularly as yours still had their green tops when you dug them up

[rhodielady_47]

I really LIKE your suggestions of using either the plastic knives or the cheap window blind slats as markers.
I'll be using one or the other very soon!
:)

[virginiadear]

That's very kind of you to say, and I appreciate the appreciation, but the credit doesn't go to me: those aren't suggestions I thought up. I don't recall where I read them, but I liked them when I saw them.

"I'll be using one or the other very soon!"
I hope you'll show us photos when you do! :^)

[rhodielady_47]

Gotta finish clearing away the weeds first.
:)