Treat your tulips as annuals
DEAR GARDEN COACH:
I planted tulips a couple of years ago, and the first year, they were beautiful. Last winter, they were very small. Should I replant? Flower Lover, Pittsburg
DEAR FLOWER LOVER:
Tulips are native to areas where there are cold winters, which means not just the air, but the ground temperature as well. Tulips need this chill in order to grow and reproduce.
I grew up in Pennsylvania where my mother had stunning tulip beds in the spring, but here I treat them as an annual plant, because having successive years of growth would mean digging them up each spring, storing for the summer and then chilling in the refrigerator for a couple of months before planting.
Remember, if you buy them from a nursery, you should keep them in your refrigerator until our soil temperatures drop in November. Don’t store them near apples and other fruits, which give off an ethylene gas, a natural byproduct of ripening fruit. The gas will delay or kill the tulip flower.
DEAR GARDEN COACH: I have had a hummingbird feeder in my backyard for more than five years with considerable success. I had a Bullock’s oriole who was eating all the nectar. It has left, and I now have a new, more difficult nemesis — bees, that keep the hummingbirds from feeding.
I know of no way to rid the feeder of them. Can you help? Richard Bothman, Bay Area
DEAR RICHARD: Lucky you, to have such a beautiful bird in your yard. Bullock’s orioles love sweet nectar and tend to gobble up all the food for hummingbirds. When they are traveling through this year, you may want to set out some oranges or other citrus for them to eat.
As for your bees, I’m going to start with a Mark Twain quote: “If honeybees were to go extinct, the human race would follow in four years.” The first thing you should do is identify whether you have honey bees at your feeder or yellow jackets. If it is yellow jackets then you should set up traps for catching them.
There are a couple types of feeders; inverted and saucer type. The inverted types are typically bottle shaped while the saucer shaped are larger and easier to fill and clean. However, because the saucer-type feeder has a flat surface the bees can move around easier and get to the nectar.
Many feeders include a feeding port that is a lovely yellow flower, which is a color that attracts honey bees, wasps and other insects. If your feeder has these yellow flowers you might consider changing to another feeder style. Mine has silvery-red flowers for the ports.
You also can try nectar guards made specifically for deterring bees and ants, but I have no experience using them.
Moving your feeders to a shady spot in your garden might reduce bee activity. Honeybees prefer sunny spots for gathering nectar; most pollinator gardens are designed in sunny areas, so If the bees are persistent, you could put in flowers that they like.
Honey bees are often attracted to the feeders if there is not another food source in the area. In my garden I have many flowering plants that the bees and other pollinators love, so they don’t seem interested in my hummingbird feeder.