Can anyone give me advice about when to plant bulbs in Vancouver, BC? Do you have to wait until it is cold, or is it okay to do it now (late august or early september)? Thanks!
best local availability in the stores will be soon, keep them cool for a few weeks and plant as the weather cools outside, Usually late September or October seem pretty reasonable.
As soon as you bring them home - the sooner the better. (In our garden, when the squirrels are not watching! LOL!)
I would caution against planting right away, if the weather is warm late in to the season it can cause problems because the bulb starts to grow, using up energy that it whould have waited till spring to consume. as for squirrels, yes, blindfold them for a few hours when you plant out the bulbs!
The only problem I have seen is shoots coming out of the ground early. However, unless you dig and store every year how are you going to keep them from being in the ground "too early" during the years after the initial planting in October or November? Stores have many of them sitting around in often heated or sunny rooms right now, shop early for best selection and quality.
My experience is that they are more likely to shoot prematurely if stored, and not planted out. It could be that we we store (unheated garage) them tends to be warmer. I don't purchase bulbs until October and havne't had any problems with premature shooting unless we get an unusually prolonged warm spell. And if squirrels don't get them first.
The annual routine for spring bulbs is to root out in fall, come out of the ground in spring, flower and set seed and then dry up for the summer. The production of a bulb is a way for the plant to get through the dry summers and cold winters of native habitats. Some commonly grown ones such as muscari may appear above the ground in fall or winter and keep the leaves until flowering in spring. A few kinds like Amaryllis belladonna are in leaf during the winter but flower in late summer or fall rather than spring. Other than blooming at a different time these have the same basic cycle as spring-flowering bulbs.