How to Grow Spring Tulips and Daffodils Even If You Missed Planting Bulbs in Late Fall

Nothing says spring time like a garden full of colorful flowers — daffodils, crocus, lilies, tulips. And you can have that, so long as you are thinking about your springtime blooms before your garden begins to look its wintry worst.

It's easy to achieve a garden of spring blooms, but it does require planning since the best time to plant bulbs is early- to mid-fall. Think late September to mid October. You see, the ideal time to get those flower bulbs into the ground is 4-6 weeks before the first frost. The bulbs then use the "dormant" winter months to establish their roots.

That is what you are supposed to do. So what happens when life gets in the way? What happens if you forget to plant your spring flower bulbs in November or December? You still want your pretty spring flowers, but the first frost has already come, or is coming any day? Do not despair! Even if you miss the ideal window in fall to plant bulbs for spring flowers, you can still cheat your way to a colorful springtime garden!

All you have to do it place your flower bulbs in the refrigerator for about a week before you plant them. This chills the bulbs and tricks them into behaving as though they were put into the ground weeks earlier. Voilà!

After the bulbs have chilled for a week, remove them from the refrigerator and plant them as you would normally: with the pointy side at the top and in a sunny patch of soil with good drainage.

You can plant your bulbs in a row for a quasi birder of blooms, or you can plant them in a thick patch for a more wild, unkempt look. Either way, you are looking forward to a sunny, colorful garden come spring. And the beauty of bulbs is that they are perennials, which means they will return year after year.