No law requires gardeners to dig up tulip bulbs each year, or at all. In fact, most bulbs prefer to stay in the ground, and, left in place, rebloom the following year. Gardeners only dig up tulip bulbs when the plants seem less vigorous and offer fewer flowers, which can indicate overcrowding.
Do I need to dig up my bulbs or can I leave them in the ground? Spring-blooming bulbs that are winter hardy, such as tulips, daffodils and crocus, can be left right in the ground. Summer bulbs such as dahlias, tuberous begonias and calla lilies, will not survive cold winters.
Most bulbs can be stored for up to a year, but tend to perform best when planted within six months of lifting. For tender bulbs, be sure to plant in the spring following the fall in which they were lifted-they will likely not have enough energy to survive past the warm season and into the following year.
There is no real reason to dig up tulips bulbs each year, or at all. Most gardeners leave their bulbs in the ground where they were originally planted, and, are left to rebloom. Sometimes gardeners will dig up tulip bulbs but only when the plants seem to have offered fewer flowers.
Select the spring bulbs
There are many spring bulbs that will naturalise easily in the cooler climates with the traditional favourite being Daffodils. Other suitable bulbs include Bluebells, Grape Hyacinths, massing Freesias, Anemones, Ixias, Dutch Iris, Bearded Iris, Sparaxis, Tritonia, Watsonias and many many more.
Planting bulbs too deep can result in bulb rot and a bit of a delay in spring growth. In general, plant bulbs a depth 2-3 times their vertical diameter.
Crocosmias provide excellent late-summer colour that lasts well in to autumn. They're great for combining with other late-summer perennials, such as echinacea, rudbeckia or nerines. After flowering, cut the flowering stems and foliage down to ground level. They're fully hardy, so can be left in the ground over winter.
Yes! The seeds of tulips are naturally spread (asexual reproduction) with little human intervention. After spreading, they evolve as bulbs and eventually go on to become a part of the flower.
Many bulbs readily multiply by producing offsets without any help from the gardener. But as well as taking advantage of this, it is quite simple to grow more of your favourite bulbs using just a few other techniques, including scaling, bulbils, seed and division.
Place the bulbs in a paper bag in the refrigerator. Be sure that the refrigerator is set at a temperature between 35°F and 50°F. Also, rid the refrigerator of any fruit (particularly apples) as these produce a plant hormone called “ethylene” when ripening which will cause flower bulbs to rot.
The foliage of the spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils, tulips and hyacinth, is beginning to turn yellow and brown and looking a little ratty in the landscape. Late April to early May is a great time to lift or dig these spring-flowering bulbs from the garden where possible.
Plant new tulip bulbs in the fall. While most modern tulip cultivars bloom well for three to five years, some tulip types (classes) bloom well over a longer period. Darwin hybrid tulips are generally the longest blooming hybrid tulip.
Bulbs usually begin to soften and rot or may actually sprout before they get planted. Even under ideal storage conditions, the bulbs will lose some of their food reserves through the natural plant process of respiration.
The trick to ensuring bulbs are safe and happy all winter long is to keep them uniformly cool. So after you plant, it's valuable to put mulch on top of the soil. Not only does mulch keep the bulbs uniformly cool, but it also inhibits weed seeds by cutting off the light that encourages germination.
You have several options. You can continue to store the bulbs in a cool location where the temperatures remain above freezing. Then plant the bulbs outdoors as soon as the soil is thawed and workable. If the plants received sufficient cold in storage, they will eventually flower for you this spring.
Most tender bulbs should be dug after the foliage dries up or after the first frost. A light to moderate frost will not penetrate to the depth of the bulb but will kill the tender top growth.
Making sure you have the right amount for the space you are planning in helps ensure you get the right look! Generally, having too many bulbs isn't a big problem. You can always gift the extras to friends and neighbors. However, if you end up planting too few bulbs you may find yourself disappointed in spring.
Before buying many bulbs on sale, buy one or two and cut them in half longitudinally to make sure the flower bud is alive. If it is brown or dried up, the bulbs will not flower next spring.
Three to six bulbs are suggested as a minimum number of summer bulbs of the same variety to plant in a grouping. Planting in Small Spaces - Plant bulbs of one colour in small spaces in the landscape. One colour will have greater impact and make the planting space look larger.
Tulip bulbs should be planted in the fall. The soil needs to have cooled off from the summer growing season before you plant, which could mean September in cold climates (zones 3 to 5), October in transitional climates (zones 6 to 7), and November or December in warm climates (zones 8 to 9).
Answer: Deadheading is the removal of spent flowers. While tulips should be deadheaded immediately after flowering, it is not necessary to deadhead daffodils. The vigor of tulip bulbs quickly declines if tulips are not promptly deadheaded and seed pods are allowed to develop.
Usually just one. Some species may have more than one flower bud in the bulb, or over time multiple, or side bulbs may form, but usually with tulips, one flower per bulb. Why ? Probably genetically, the bulbs tend to just form a single stem, not like daffodils which often have side bulbs or offsets.
There are some summer bulbs that will bloom all summer long with the right conditions. Plants which flower throughout the whole season, include the likes of dahlias, begonias and callas.
As long as they haven't dried to powder or turned to mush, unplanted bulbs will come to full life, given a chance. Many bulbs don't get planted because we gardeners can't figure out where to plant them. The obvious solution is to plant them in containers, where they will do their utmost to catch up with their kin.
Answer: Mulch and bulbs actually go very well together. Imagine: bulbs are planted fairly deep in the soil, yet their leaves easily manage to pierce the soil, often dense and heavy. Do you think a mulch, usually light and fairly fluffy, would stop such determined plants?