Some of my perennials and spring bulbs are not coming up. Whats wrong?
You may have had some winterkill or injury. It is advisable to mulch your perennial beds with at least 6 of straw or similar material for the winter. This is not to keep the ground from freezing, it is to keep the soil temperatures from fluctuating, thus causing alternate freezing and thawing. This alternate freezing and thawing breaks plants roots and heaves them out of the soil. Some people never mulch their beds for winter, and most years this will work fine. Usually we have adequate snowfall to create snow mulch. However, this year we had little or now snow until mid-February. In addition to the alternate freezing and thawing that occurs without winter mulch, the frost is able to penetrate the soil much deeper.
