Timely Reminder: Water Your Tulips!
Hi everyone! Dave Dowling here: I just wanted to give everyone a quick reminder to water your tulips, fall bulbs, and hardy annuals/Cool Flowers. The eastern United States, especially mid-Atlantic and New England, are in the middle of a severe drought. Some areas have had little to no rain since late August. It's very important to water your tulips and fall bulbs as soon as they are planted. If they are planted into dry soil and don't get watered, root growth may not start this fall.
No roots this fall can lead to poor growth in the spring.
I recommend watering thoroughly as they are planted, before covering with soil. Then, water more as the bulbs are covered with soil. You want to get water down to the base of the bulbs. Watering just on the surface will often not allow the to water reach the depth of the bulbs where the water is needed.
For your fall-planted hardy annuals or Cool Flowers, it's important to keep them watered regularly until the seeds have germinated and the plants are established. You can't walk away and leave the watering to Mother Nature. As we all know, she hasn't been doing a good job scheduling rain lately.