What about 19?  My weather widget shows that for the low on Saturday. 

A lot will depend on the micro-climate.  The asphalt and sidewalks of Troost might help survival.  Tulips even in the best condition only last a week or two.  I would have opted for daffodils on Troost.  A lot hardier and last many years.  Tulips peter out after a few years(except the tiny blossomed species tulips).

haha, umm not too sure Annie, dear

Tulips are easy, and there are many varieties so you can extend the season for weeks by planting different types.  You will need some sun, as they need to pack in all the energy to store in the bulbs in a few months while the foilage is still green.  Squirrels love to dig them up and eat them.

My tulip and daffodil method.

Yes, they will grow on the north. But they do need sun.

Pick out the bulbs you want in a color scheme you like. I use kind of a dusty pink and creamy white. It goes well with spring for me. And it looks great with my pink dogwood.



Get some bulbs in each color that say "early" "mid" and "late" so you have a long blooming period. You will find them in the fall in most places.

DON'T PLANT TILL AT LEAST NOVEMBER!!!!!!!! In our area they will sprout if it is warm and it weakens the spring blooming. Even a warm December day is not too late. They MUST HAVE freezing in the ground over the winter in order to come up and flower well in the spring.

I prefer to plant bulbs in groups rather than in rows for more impact. Here are a couple of pics.





I like to also plant a clump of daffodils and surround them with the purple grape hyacinths. Really striking. Be sure to get bulbs in early, mid and late varieties for the longest blooming time. I didn't have any pics of the daffs with the grape hyacinths and my daffs got frozen a bit and aren't 100% now.

Be sure to get some Holland Bulb Booster or bone meal to add when you plant.

BTW-tulips are a real delicacy for deer, so keep that in mind if you have deer when you make your bulb choices. They dont' like daffs nearly so much.

Thanks for the tips. Now time to get to work planning my bed for next year.

I took a drive down Troost yesterday. The tulips were really a good idea. If anything, it gives the appearance of hope and rebirth.  The effort should be expanded next fall.  There are still large stretches without them.

Troost really isn't that bad. Little signs of progress everywhere.  There are actually lots of neat buildings along Troost that could be fixed up.  The retail stretch between 31st and Linwood is really kind of charming and is screaming for organic redevelopment.  The Nicholson Group should move in there and start fixing up the stores.

Funkhouser should set up a redevelopment zone there and focus his micro-TIF concept on that stretch of Troost first as an experiment.  He should consider asking the Kaufmann Foundation to fund entrepenurial activity along Troost.  They could start out with things like a coffee shop, used bookstore, used CD store, organic market, a couple of small ethnic restaurants, and maybe a couple of art galleries and some antique stores.  The emphasis should be on locally-owned businesses in need of cheap rent.

A handful of the buildings on the east side of Troost between linwood and 31st have already been renovated, with new storefronts and windows.

Brilliant!

plant roses if you're gonna spend time outside anyway. they last longer. squirrels don't dig them up. they will bloom over and over again from april until november. they grow like weeds and are hard to kill.

it's been like that for a while, and this stretch has new sidewalks...interesting to see what develops this summer. i see this area as a barometer of how widespread the revitalization of the urban core of kcmo becomes. this area should become a moderately sized urban node again not unlike a delmar loop.

I don't give much a chance for lower Troost for a good many years.  When I lived in central Hyde 20 years ago there were the same tentative seeds of hope that never sprouted to achieve a critical renewal.  Maybe if a light rail line went down it there might happen enough investment.

i dont understand it because a lot of the housing around troost is doing nothing but improving it seems...look at the houses on forest near 39th, etc...

i guess there needs to be a singular figure to ramrod the lower troost biz district forward...

any tulips popping up yet?

I agree with several of the writers here.  Tulips are nice, but they usually peter-out after a year or two, especially in the inhumane environment like Troost.  Daffodils are a better choice.  I also feel a mix of bulbs is appropriate.  I have created a calendar for every plant that flowers in KC.  This is the "bulbs" section.  These are based on my observations over the last 5 years.  These dates are averages, and you can see we are a bit behind schedule because of the long winter we had this year.  By planting a mix of bulbs, we could extend the color season on Troost.  The reason they only planted Tulips on Troost?  Marketing.....both start with "T"

Troost is a Dutch name.  Holland has been associated with tulips ever since the "Tulipomania" of the 17th century.  Tulips then were a precious skyrocketing commodity.

So.........were there tulips to be seen?  How did it look?  Anyone have photos?

A few days ago, I decided to see how this effort looked this year.

Hmmmm.... it looks like everyone lost interest.  I guess this program is dead.  Sure there were a few older tulips that came up, especially near Forest Hill Cemetary and Rockhurst has nice tulip plantings that they maintain, but other then that, Troost looked as shabby as always and mostly tulip-free.

Since this 'Tulips on Troost' started, I always thought they should have snuck in mostly daffodils.  Why?...because tulips struggle to come back year aflter year, while daffodils are superior at returning for decades.  We all knew this tulip planting effort would lose steam in a few years, and now there is nothing to show for all those volunteer hours.

We should have called it "Trees on Troost".  That way those volunteer's efforts could have a 4-season impact on the corridor for decades to come.

I had the same thoughts on daffodils.  The town I grew up in had a "daffodil trail" that was planted as a memorial to a woman that made a significant impact on our community.  The daffodils basically lined the main streets in town with larger areas in specific locations (Town Hall, Library and the elementary school).  I spent many field days as an elementary school student planting bulbs.  Haven't been back in Spring in a while but it was pretty cool for the whole community to witness the daffodils blooming throughout town.  They have lasted for decades so far.  Granted, it is a different community than Troost and was maintained throughout the years.

I checked Troost out last year and the year before and have to say I've always been underwhelmed, but I think the program is a terrific effort (but for not a lot of payoff). I also would rather see some trees or shrubbery planted.