How to Make Spring Bulbs Bloom

Place tulip, crocus, daffodil and freesia bulbs in the refrigerator in July. Freesia (Freesia spp.) thrives in USDA zones 9 through 10, while spring crocus (Crocus vernus) grows well in zones 3 though 8. Keep the bulbs away from apples; the ethylene the fruit releases prevents sprouting.

Work the soil to 18 inches in garden beds that get good sun in the spring. Add and work in 3 inches of organic compost and 1 pound of bulb fertilizer per 25 square feet.

Insert a soil thermometer into the earth in the bulb bed to determine when the soil temperature drops to 60 degrees Fahrenheit in autumn, usually around September. Avoid planting in warmer soil to prevent attack by the fungus-causing basal rot. Plant bulbs that do not require chilling in October, and plant chilled bulbs in November or December.

Calculate bulb planting depth by multiplying bulb diameter by three. Generally, plant bulbs the size of tulip bulbs at 6 inches, those the size of daffodil bulbs at 5 inches, smaller bulbs like crocus at 3 inches, and the smallest bulbs the size of freesia at 2 inches below the soil surface.

Dig a hole or trench the proper depth with a trowel. Set in bulbs, large side down, pointed side up. Plant a bulb on its side if you cannot tell which way is up. Cover the bulb with dirt, tamp to remove air, and irrigate just enough to settle the bulb in the soil. Leave further fall irrigation to Mother Nature until spring.

Water the bulbs when the shoots appear in springtime. Provide 1 inch of water a week in the absence of that amount of rain. Continue irrigating even after the flowers have passed to aid the bulb to store up nutrients for the next year. Cut back foliage with garden clippers only after it has withered and died a natural death.