Late isn't the same as too late

If a mesh bag of tulips or daffodils is sitting next to the snow shovel, you're in good company. Spring-flowering bulbs go in the ground in fall because they need a stretch of winter cold before they bloom. Early November is the tail end of that window in Centennial. The deciding question isn't the calendar. It's whether you can still get a trowel into the soil.

If you can dig, plant. A bulb in the ground now has a real shot at spring color. A bulb left on a garage shelf until March misses the winter cold it needs and dries out while it waits.

Sort before you dig

Pour out the bag and gently squeeze each bulb. Keep the firm ones. Toss any that are soft, shriveled or fuzzy with mold, since they are poor bets and can rot in the bed. If you bought more than you have energy for this weekend, plant the biggest, healthiest bulbs first.

Plant for short days and cooling soil

Pick a spot that drains. Bulbs that sit in soggy soil all winter tend to rot. Skip the low corner where snowmelt puddles and choose a slightly raised bed or a gentle slope.

Use the depth on the label. Bigger bulbs go deeper than small ones. If the tag is long gone, err deeper rather than shallower. That also keeps bulbs farther from temperature swings at the surface.

Point up. The pointed tip faces the sky, and the flat, rooty base faces down. If you truly can't tell, set the bulb on its side and the shoot will find its way.

Plant in clusters. A dozen of one kind tucked into one wide hole reads as a splash of color in spring. Single bulbs spaced in a tidy line tend to disappear.

Backfill and settle. Firm the soil gently and give the spot a drink so it settles around the bulbs. Our Oct. 27 fall watering plan covers the rest of the yard.

Mulch is your cold-weather insurance

For a late planting, mulch is the step that matters most. A generous layer of shredded leaves, wood chips or straw over the bed buffers the soil from the sunny-afternoon, frozen-night swings our winters bring. Those swings can loosen soil and nudge freshly planted bulbs upward before their roots take hold. If you're raking anyway, a bag of shredded leaves over the bulb bed is a good use of them.

If the ground is already hard

If the top of the soil is frozen solid, don't hack at it. Check again after a few mild, sunny days, because a frozen crust can soften enough to dig. In the meantime, keep the bulbs out of the heat and out of the damp. A spot near the furnace or under a dripping car is the wrong place to wait.

Leave yourself a note for spring

Snap a photo or drop a plant marker where you planted, so a spring cleanup doesn't dig them back up. After they bloom, let the leaves stay until they yellow. That foliage is how the bulb stores energy for next year.

For more bulb guidance from Colorado gardening experts, PlantTalk Colorado's page on spring-flowering bulbs is a solid next stop.

What's in your garage bag this year, and where are you planning to tuck it in?