NZ Bulbs

Depending on where you are in the country, your daffodils may already be finishing flowering. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. What stage are your daffs at at the moment? We love to see pics as well! 💛

✅Remove flower heads when finished flowering
❌Don’t touch the leaves
✅Fertilise once flowering has finished
✅Spray with neem oil every few weeks
✅Keep watering until the leaves die back naturally
❓ Daffodils didn't produce many flowers this year and have been in the ground for four or more years? They might be overcrowded and need digging up and splitting in summer.
❓Daffodils produced flower buds but instead of opening and flowering they turned brown and withered up? When the daffodil produces flower buds but they don’t open, it’s called Bud Blast. There are a few possible causes for bud blast and they will all have occurred in the previous season/year.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲👇

🔴 Removing the flower heads (just snap the flower off, not the whole stem) stops seed development and allows the bulb to concentrate on growing as much as possible for next season.

🟠If you remove any of the bulb leaves before they have died back of their own accord it will result in smaller bulbs and poorer flowering the following season. So, despite what you might have heard - it's not a good idea to tie up your daffodil leaves when they've finished flowering.

🟡 Continuing to water the bulb after flowering will keep the leaves green for longer. The longer you can keep the leaves green (end of November or later) the bigger the bulb will grow and the better it will flower next season.

🟢 Fertiliser applied after flowering is perfect timing for boosting bulb growth. Avoid fertilisers that have high nitrogen levels and make sure it has good levels of potassium. If you have potato or rose fertiliser in the garden shed, these will also work well. And we make our own fertiliser for the nursery and sell it here https://nzbulbs.co.nz/Item/Bulb-Fertiliser. You only need one teaspoon to a dessert spoon per square metre.

🔵 When you fertilise your daffodils it's also a good idea to spray some neem oil around the plants to deter narcissus fly from laying eggs at the leaf bases. If your daffodils haven't produced many flowers this season they could have been infected with narcissus fly which lays eggs at the leaf base at this time of year. The eggs hatch and the grubs burrow down into the bulbs where they munch up the centre of it - exactly where your bulb is developing the flower for next year!

🟣 Another reason daffodils may not have produced many flowers is they have become too crowded. Daffodils can be left in the ground for up to four years before they start to become crowded. If you think this is the case, dig them up and split in summer when they are dormant.

⚫️ Possible causes for bud blast will all have occurred in the previous season/year. Extreme hot or cold weather can cause bud blast – for example a later frost or an extra hot spring day, or too much heat from sun on a pot if you have planted in pots. Nitrogen in fertiliser will promote healthy plant and leaf growth, but too much will be at the cost of flowers so always use something with good potassium levels. If the bulbs were planted too shallow they will likely get bud blast – always plant your daffodil bulbs around 12-15cm deep. And if you cut off the flowers or leaves too soon it can cause bud blast – just remember to never touch your daffodil leaves and remove flower heads once they’ve finished flowering.

Here are some of our sweet pea seedlings, which we sowed around four to five weeks ago. We grow these sweet peas for seed production, but we do love the wall of fragrance on our sweet pea fence too (the second picture is from a couple of years ago). We plant these biodegradable pots in the ground and they break down.

For our step-by-step guide on growing sweet peas, which can still be ordered and planted now, visit here 👉 https://nzbulbs.co.nz/Article/sweet-pea-growing-guide

Are you growing sweet peas this season? What's your favourite variety?

dahlias to create a stunning summer show! 🪷 To celebrate the upcoming dahlia planting season, we've teamed up with NZ Bulbs to give away a dahlia planting pack including five delightful dahlias – 1 x Sune Victoria, 1 x American Moon, 1 x Kogane Fubuki, 1 x Cafe au Lait Supreme and 1 x Pirouette (NEW!) dahlia tubers.

We’ve also included all the goodies you need to grow with success - 2 x Tui Bulb Mix 10L and 1 x Tui Bulb Food 1.5kg. Note, dahlias are best planted in October once frosts have passed. To enter:
🪷Like Tui Garden Products
🪷Like NZ Bulbs
🪷Tag a flower-loving friend!

Check out our Instagram for another chance to win!

Discover our Dahlia Guide here: https://tuigarden.co.nz/how-to-guide/dahlia-growing-guide/

Entries close 26/08/26. The winner will be notified via direct message. Open to NZ residents only. Dahlias will be dispatched to the winner direct from NZ Bulbs.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook. Please keep an eye out for fake pages that spam competition posts.

More of our new varieties of ranunculus are coming into flower. We will have some bunches of these for sale at the Albert St Market in Palmerston North tomorrow (Saturday) from 6-11am. We expect to have these available as cut flowers at the market for the next two months.

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we have been growing these from seed imported from France and Italy. We expect to be selling the tubers of these next year.

And, for everyone who commented that they find ranunculus impossible to grow, we’ve updated our Gardening Guide on growing them - including why you might get poor germination. At the nursery we achieve a better than 90% germination rate. This new, in-depth guide should answer all your anemone and ranunculus questions.

Link in comments 👇

We have 40 different types of gladioli bulbs in stock and ready to order for this season. They are perfect for adding height to the back of boarders and also make fantastic cut flowers. If you stagger your planting you can enjoy fresh blooms all summer long.

Shop here 👉 https://nzbulbs.co.nz/Category/gladioli-bulbs

These white gladioli pictured are simple yet striking. From bold reds and oranges to soft pastels and bi-colours, we have a huge range of different colours to choose from. What colours do you like to grow? 💛💜💚

Here are some Galanthus Elwesii we have flowering at the moment. It will be a while before we can offer the bulbs for sale as we don't have many and we need these ones to help grow our stock. They're a lovely flower to grow. They're very easy to grow, come back every year and flower early with their beautiful white blooms.

Do you grow galanthus? What are your favourite varieties?

What do you think of these ranunculus? We have been growing these from seed imported from France and Italy. The plan is to keep increasing our stock so we can offer the tubers for sale next year.