Moving the Tulip Pots into the Garage
After the snow, came the rain. Day after consecutive day of rain. Eventually, the snow was washed away. Today the rain stopped, and I took advantage of the break to move the Tulip pots into the garage.
Why move them into the garage, you may ask. Really it’s to limit the amount of moisture that gets into them. Moisture is more of a threat to most bulbs than cold. The pots are thoroughly moist right now, but not wet.
Of course, now I’ll have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t get too dry. There should be a hard freeze tomorrow, which will slow any dehydration.
Here are the pots, hanging out in the garage. There are 14 Tulip pots and two little Crocus pots for forcing. The Crocus I’ll bring inside around the beginning of February. The garage doesn’t offer much protection against the cold, as it’s unheated. If anything it prevents the pots from warming prematurely, which is a good thing.
This picture gives you a sense of just how neat and organized our garage is (ha ha). As I always say, there’s plenty of room in our garage as long as we don’t put any cars in there. And we never do, since the garage was built in 1938 and is too much of a tight fit for a modern automobile. That’s my story, anyhow.
I was too lazy today to cut the chicken wire and fit it over the Tulip pots. I may do that later. Squirrels have been known to creep into the garage but we’ve got Rupert the Rooster to keep an eye on things. Winter is hard on Rupert’s paint.
In addition to the Crocus and Tulips, there’s a sack of 100 double daffodils someone to me. Apparently, double daffodils are the 2018 Bulb of the Year. I’ll bring those inside for forcing during the winter and we’ll see how they do.
Just getting outside to carry in the Tulip pots put me in a more cheerful frame of mind. It made me think of the flowery delights to come.
gardeninacity 
You should have quite a show in spring. It’s been raining here ever since I received my bulb order.
How frustrating!
You are right, the moisture can be a real problem to bulbs. I have had better luck with daffodils than tulips.
I’ve lost daffodils to too much moisture. Camassia is one bulb that actually likes moisture, though.
You are a dedicated gardener!
I try my best.
That is a lot of tulips. I will look forward to seeing them next spring. It must be nice to have a garage to store them in, among other things. 🙂
I’d rather have a greenhouse.
My tulips are still in the refrigerator ! My target planting date is 12-15. Rain will be the deciding factor.
We need to get our Tulips in the ground or the pots by the end of October at the latest.
Yes, I was just about to ask. An excess of water is something we do not give much thought to in a chaparral climate.
Well, there’s an upside to (almost) everything.
More than anything it was nice to see your garage and know that other people’s spaces can be chaotic too. I always look forward to seeing your tulips.
“Chaotic” is a nice way of putting it.
hopefully, you will have beautiful flowers in spring.
greeting- evi erlinda
That is the hope, we’ll see.
I was just successful in getting my F150 into my garage for the first time in my life. Had to move tractor and implements out. Rearrange the space. At 1st try, I still needed another 3′ to close the door. Now I have enough space to drop tailgate and unload with the door closed! Nice to hit that remote, see it open, roll in, close the door and be out of the weather for both unloading and reloading for next trip. Our weather is pretty harsh up on this ridge. Lots of wind. Have 4-6″ of snow on the ground at the moment. Still not quite enough for x-c skiing and temps hovering too close to freezing so snow is soft. Just hope this base stays. I just visited a friend who inspired me with the intricate shelving he builds to take advantage of the smallest spaces for storage. Need to get him out here to help me strategize on where to add some. My shop gets too dusty, so need more shelving for storage above the engine of Ford. Lots of wasted space there at the moment. Keep on writing. Love your posts on how to do it better. Always learn from you.
Thanks so much. Sounds like your garage is much larger and better organized than mine.
How I hate rain in winter, and every year, it seems, Maine gets more rainy days than it should this time of year. Looking forward to spring and seeing the beautiful tulips bloom.
Me too, but we’ve just started with winter. Ugh.
I can’t wait to see them! And spring!
Same here!
I always look forward to your displays in the spring – always. And, I would definitely stick to the theory that the garage is too small otherwise I see a lot of hard work and organizing. 🙂
And we wouldn’t want that.
You must have some determined squirrels to cause damage, even in the garage! Does the garage provide some protection from the freeze/thaw cycle? My lazy side is wondering why you don’t leave them in place and cover them up with a tarp to keep out excess moisture 🙂
I don’t want to buy another tarp, and our old ones are torn up. And I think the garage does help with freeze/thaw, because the pots are out of the sun and the garage walls provide some insulation.
Interesting that tulips don’t like to be wet, My tulips are planted around the garden and I’ve always been surprised by the red ones.. .. in a really hot dry spot. Just right for them!
I always look forward to your spring tulips..😀👌
They come from arid places like Central Asia, Persia, Turkey, etc.
No wonder mine are thriving!
Your posts always make me smile. Especially this one! I love the rooster and am a firm believer in keeping more interesting things than cars in a garage😄
The rooster (we call him Rupert) is Judy’s favorite.
Hello Jason, using a garage to store tulip pots is a new take on things and you garage looks no more cluttered than others I’ve seen. I do like all your multi-colours pots and I can’t wait to see them all flower in Spring next year.
My pots are something of a ragtag collection. I sometimes I should get rid of most of them and buy a bunch of new ones.
The rain sure gets old fast! You should have quite the display come spring. Your gargae had me smiling, if you think yours is bad you should see mine!xxx
I’d be happy to see yours, it might cheer me up!