The flower stems from spring bulbs can be cut back to the ground as soon as they have finished blooming. This allows the bulbs to focus their energy on new growth. Cutting back spent and old flower heads encourages regrowth and can help to improve the flowering of the bulb the following season.
Once the green leaves have started to die back and have turned brown then it's okay to prune. To prune, cut the died daffodil leaves as close to the surface of the ground as possible. If you cut the stems too early, it will not feed the bulb the nutrients it needs to store for the following season.
Most bulbs can stay in the ground. However, for example, Tulip bulbs are often lifted, stored and replanted the following year. Gardeners report varying success with this and with leaving them in. If you have been using your spring bulbs as cut flowers, you will most likely need to lift the bulbs and replace them.
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.
While you do not need to dig and divide your tulips every year; they should be dug up at least 3-4 years if planted in the ground. If you are not digging them up yearly, make sure they are not in an area of the yard where they will be watered all summer. Too much water over the summer will rot/kill your bulbs.
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.
Carefully dig up the bulbs and gently shake off loose soil. Discard small bulbs and store the remainder in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place until fall planting time.
After those bulbs finish flowering many wonder if it's possible to place the plants in the soil so they will bloom next year. The short answer is yes, but some of these bulbs will return better than others. Tulips and hyacinths, for example, always look their best the first spring after planting.
Water the Bulbs well following planting. This will help settle the soil in the planting bed plus provide needed moisture for the bulbs to start rooting. Fall planted bulbs must root before cold weather. Avoid over-watering at planting time since this can result in bulb rot.
For most bulbs, use your fingers or a brush to remove dirt and soil from the surface. If your bulbs need to be stored with the soil on to stay healthy, as is the case with is menes, dahlias, caladiums, cannas, begonias, achimenes, and others, do not clean them. Discard bulbs that show signs of rot or damage.
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.
Planting bulbs too deep can result in bulb rot and a bit of a delay in spring growth.
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.
Planting flower bulbs too close together can cause root systems to strangle each other or cause them to dehydrate or starve due to limited water and nutrition. The general rule of thumb is to cover the top of each bulb with 3" to 4" of soil, taking care to not break off any sprout growth.
Many flowering bulbs multiply easily in the ground by forming bulblets around the base of the parent bulb. These offsets are easily recognizable when new shoots of greenery appear beside the mother plant. Daffodils and crocuses are easily propagated by the removal and replanting of these offsets.
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.
The general rule of thumb for planting spring bulbs is to plant two to three times as deep as the bulbs is tall. This means most large bulbs like tulips or daffodils will be planted about 6 inches deep while smaller bulbs will be planted 3-4 inches deep.
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.
A great way to check bulb health is to use what's known as the “bucket test.” This simple method consists of putting about a half-dozen bulbs in a bucket of water. Healthy bulbs will sink. The bulbs that float are the ones that you should throw out.
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.
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.
Answer: The problem with planting annuals over tulip bulbs is that tulips prefer to be kept totally dry over the summer. When you water the annuals, you increase the chance your tulip bulbs will rot.