Time to dig up and separate bulbs

[Betsy Muse]

I have never done this. I can put bulbs in the ground, but I don't want to kill them by digging them up. I have mostly cannas, irises, lily of the valley and ginger lilies.

Do I cut them back first? I am in zone 7b and the cannas are still offering up a few blooms. I did trim the leaves back on the irises in a fan shape. Do I wait until all green completely dies back?

Also, can I just plop them back into a prepared bed or do they need to cure?

I know my veggies for the most part...but I'm at a loss with bulbs. I love them, but don't know how to care for them.

[Betsy Muse]

Thank you! I will buy perlite today while I'm out. One reason I planted bulbs was to avoid yearly/seasonal tending and I have ignored these for the most part for three years - aside from admiring how beautiful the blooms are. However, I dug up bulbs from my grandmother's yard this year after she died. I put them in the ground and need to move them to a new bed. These are worth learning how to do it right.

Oh...and another reason I put in bulbs was to always have a supply of flowers for the new beds I always seem to build!

Most of my time is taken up in the veggie patch. There never seems to be enough time to tend the edibles and the beautifuls...though some of the edibles are quite beautiful. (..and some of the beautifuls are edible!)

[applestar]

I'm sorry for your loss. But how lovely to continue her garden in this way.
My grandmother died while I was a teenager when my famiy was living abroad, and her property was sold and the house and garden demolished in the ensuing inheritance proceeds by her children so I only have vague memories of crushing four o'clock seeds into white "face" powder with my girl cousins and the boy cousins hunting frogs with handmade rubber band and and paper clip shooters in her garden when we visited during the summer when we were little.

[rainbowgardener]

What a great idea about writing the iris type on the fan! Why didn't I ever think of that?

Ginger lily is a tropical. It is rated as hardy to 7b, but you would be right at the edge of it's tolerance. Once it is dormant, mulch well for winter protection.

[Betsy Muse]

Thank you, Applestar. I got my love of gardening and canning from my grandmother. Its a shame you weren't able to gather from your Gran's garden, but what lovely memories.

This is the home we will stay in for a very long time, but I'm marking all of the plants so my darling daughters will know their history when the time comes.

[Betsy Muse]

Hi Rainbowgardner, I do have the ginger lilies in a well mulched area. They are very crowded, though. I may leave them where they are and move everything else. They smell absolutely amazing when you walk out on our back deck!