sallysmom said:Could someone fill me in on why you dig your bulbs up? Is it because of your climate?
Sometimes, yes. I dig Fritillaria imperialis to summer bake them, that is storing them in dry warm sand in an unused cold frame over the summer. The higher temperature is supposed to induce richer bloom and the dry sand would help to keep the bulbs safe from various pathogens attacking the bulbs. I think fusarium is the main problem with these. Also they need annual division anyway as big bulbs usually divide every year and after a few years there would only be small non-blooming bulbs left.
Iris hollandica is another one that needs a warm summer both to produce blooms the next year and to improve winter hardiness. Late planting in cold soil prevents it from
starting into growth too early. This is the first year for me trying this so don't know how this works practically yet.
Tulips I dig for similar reasons like jmorth. Also some species tulips and parrot tulips may need summer heat to bloom well the following year in a cold summer climate such as my own. Annual digging and late planting prevents spread of tulip blight and infected bulbs can be discarded. I also try to maintain a selection of blooming sized bulbs for pots and as bulbs in the ground always are bigger than in pots for me, I need to dig and grade bulbs to resupply my stocks.
Never dug hyacinths, but I'm thinking it would be beneficial to control some health issues I have with the bulbs in one bed. Some extra warmth during summer would also give richer bloom.
I don't usually dig narcissus in the ground, but doing so would help control the narcissus bulb fly.
Some bulbs are also dug for practical reasons - easier to see them while there still is some foliage left and easier to replant them in autumn when there would be less other plants in the way.
