Hardy bulbs--the ones that overwinter in the ground and bloom to herald spring--don't follow the same feeding cycle that most landscape plants do. In fact, with them, you need to fertilize as soon as the foliage pokes up through the ground when the bulbs' roots are most active. Waiting until or after they're flowering is really just a waste of time and money.

Blood meal is the traditional choice and still an excellent fertilizer for spring-flowering bulbs. Its application rate is 2 pounds per 100 square feet or 1 teaspoon per square foot. Nitrogen- heavy lawn fertilizers (27-3-3 or 30-3-3) can do the job, too, if applied at two-thirds the normal rate. A complete garden fertilizer (10-10-10, 9-9-6, etc.) is appropriate only when a soil test has shown the area needs phosphorus and potassium - very seldom here.

After that, you just need to remember that if daffodils, tulips and the like aren't allowed to keep their foliage until it dies naturally, their bulbs will get smaller and weaker every year. You need to leave the foliage in place until all signs of life are gone. As the leaves wither, their energy will transfer to the bulb, promoting both bulb growth and next year's blooms.

Date: 2/21/05

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