When to plant tulips in Juneau: 6 September – 12 October

In Juneau, tulip: plant from 6 September to about 12 October.

Bulbs are best planted early in the window: late-planted bulbs may flower later or less well. Late planting works only while the soil can be dug. Mulch after planting.

The date is about two weeks before the average daily temperature here falls below 0 °C (ten years of weather): an estimate, not the day the ground freezes, and a cold spell can freeze it earlier. Sources: Iowa State University Extension, Wisconsin Horticulture Extension, UNH Extension, RHS, how the ground freezes (NRC Canada, CBD-26).

Tulip in Juneau: soil, season and weather

Nights then average below 0 °C in October–April; the coldest, February, averages -8.9 °C.

Planting	6 September – 12 October
First autumn frost	6 October
Coldest nights	February, -8.9 °C
Soil back at 7 °C in spring	7 June
Daylight	13:39 on 6 September
Daylight at the winter solstice	6:23

The same dates in Juneau hold for Garlic, Daffodil, Crocus and Hyacinth.

Tulip in Juneau: depth, winter cold, pests and pets

Plant tulips at a depth of two to three times the bulb’s height, at least twice the bulb’s width apart, pointed end up (RHS). Where winters are very cold, tulips benefit from deeper planting to protect them from frost penetrating the soil (RHS); here the average daily temperature drops below 0 °C in winter.

In Juneau the average daily temperature stays at 10 °C or lower for about 44 weeks a year (our estimate from ten years of monthly weather). For this bulb Wisconsin Horticulture Extension gives a cold period of 15–17 weeks at about 2–10 °C. The winter here gives that in the ground, so the bulbs need no pre-chilling.

Border tulips often fail to flower in their second year if left in the ground, so many gardeners grow them for one spring and plant fresh bulbs each autumn; Darwin hybrid and Kaufmanniana tulips reflower more reliably (RHS). Soils that stay wet in summer make reflowering difficult (RHS): in Juneau the three warmest months bring about 719 mm of rain together.

Grey squirrels often dig up tulip bulbs: lay chicken wire over the bed until the leaves appear, or plant daffodils among them, which squirrels avoid (RHS). Tulips are toxic to dogs, cats and horses, the bulb most of all (ASPCA).

Sources: RHS, Wisconsin Horticulture Extension, ASPCA.

Tulip in nearby cities

Around Juneau, Fairbanks is 13 days earlier and Victoria 76 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Whitehorse	272 km	29 August – 7 October	8 days earlier
Anchorage	923 km	14 September – 18 October	8 days later
Fairbanks	1,008 km	24 August – 2 October	13 days earlier
Yellowknife	1,189 km	4 September – 4 October	2 days earlier
Vancouver	1,244 km	18 October – end of December	42 days later
Victoria	1,316 km	21 November – end of December	76 days later

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