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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Tulips
Planting
Tulips prefer a site with full or afternoon sun. In Zones 7 and 8, choose a shady site or one with morning sun only, as tulips don鈥檛 like a lot of heat.
The soil must be well-draining, neutral to slightly acidic, fertile, and dry or sandy. All tulips dislike areas with excessive moisture. Prepare the garden bed by using a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost.
Tall varieties should be sheltered from strong winds.
When to Plant Tulips
- Plant tulip bulbs in the fall, 6 to 8 weeks before a hard, ground-freezing frost is expected. The bulbs need time to establish themselves. Planting too early leads to disease problems. See local frost dates.
- A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs when the average nighttime temperatures in your area are in the 40s.
- In colder northern climates, plant in September or October. In warmer climates, plant bulbs in December (or even later).
- To find the best dates, consult our fall bulb planting chart.
- Nature never intended bulbs to loll about above ground, so don鈥檛 delay planting the bulbs after purchase.
- In southern climates with mild winters, plant bulbs in late November or December. The bulbs will need to be chilled in the refrigerator for about 12 weeks before planting. (Bulb suppliers often offer pre-chilled bulbs for sale, too.)
- If you miss planting your bulbs at the optimal time, don鈥檛 wait for spring or next fall. Bulbs aren鈥檛 like seeds. Even if you find an unplanted sack of tulips or daffodils in January or February, plant them and take your chances. See more about planting tulips in winter.
How to Plant Tulips
- Plant bulbs fairly deep鈥8 inches deep, or about three times the height of the bulb. Dig a hole deeper than that in order to loosen the soil and allow for drainage. In clay soils, plant 3 to 6 inches deep instead.
- Space bulbs 4 to 6 inches apart.
- Set the bulb in the hole with the pointy end up. Cover with soil and press soil firmly.
- Water bulbs right after planting. Although they can鈥檛 bear wet feet, bulbs need water to trigger growth.
- If you鈥檙e planning to raise perennial tulips, feed them a balanced fertilizer when you plant them in the fall. Bulbs are their own complete storage system and contain all of the nutrients they need for one year. Use organic material, compost, or a balanced time-release bulb food.
- To deter mice and moles鈥攊f they have been a problem鈥攑ut holly or any other thorny leaves in the planting holes. Some gardeners use kitty litter or crushed gravel. If ravenous voles and rodents are a real problem, you may need to take stronger measures, such as planting bulbs in buried wire cages.
- Don鈥檛 lose hope if you鈥檙e planting your tulips later in the season鈥攋ust follow these tips.
Growing
- If it rains weekly, do not water. However, if there is a dry spell and it does not rain, you should water the bulbs weekly until the ground freezes.
- Rainy summers, irrigation systems, and wet soil are death to tulips. Never deliberately water a bulb bed unless in a drought. Wet soil leads to fungus and disease and can rot bulbs. Add shredded pine bark, sand, or any other rough material to the soil to foster swift drainage.
- Apply compost annually to provide nutrients needed for future blooms.
- In the spring, when leaves emerge, feed your tulip the same bulb food or bone meal you used at planting time. Water well.
- Deadhead tulips as soon as they go by, but do not remove the leaves!
- Allow the leaves to remain on the plants for about 6 weeks after flowering. The tulips need their foliage to gather energy for next year鈥檚 blooms! After the foliage turns yellow and dies back, it can be pruned off.
- Large varieties may need replanting every few years; small types usually multiply and spread on their own.
Catherine Boeckmann
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I have new tulip bulbs in my garage all winter. What can I do with them?
Tulips are spring-blooming bulbs, Linda. They are meant to be planted in the fall/auturmn, at least before th ground freezes, so they can 鈥減op鈥 in spring. Having kept yours in the garage all winter鈥攏ot in soil, it sounds like鈥攜our options may be limited. Are they still firm, solid, not feeling soft or dried out? You can, quick and in a hurry, plant them and water them and see if they grow. If it was cold enough in the garage, you might 鈥渇ool鈥 them into blooming. Mark or remember where you plant them…and wait a year. There is a long shot chance that they might bloom next spring. There is not much else to do with them.
I have inherited two flower beds that mostly have tulips in them, there are some daffodils too. I seen this morning that both are coming up, usually thay come up between mid March and early April. I live in west central Illinois. The weather is cool by day and it frost over at night. Should I cover thim at night or not and hope they will survive?
can i plant tulips in the spring
Last year i had 10 huge beautiful red tulips in my Vancouver condo,after the leaves died I dug them up and stored them in a dark place, I planted the bulbs late in the fall,now I have dozens of leaves coming up all over my small plot,there seems to be no sign of flowers..what shall I do?? Will they ever bloom??
I was given some tulip bulbs that were dug up by the City, and were going to be thrown in the dump. I wanted to salvage them for my own yard, but what do I do? I realized tulip bulbs are usually planted in the fall so is there a way to store them until the fall, or can I plant them now and hope for the best? What should I do?
Hi Dianne,
Where these bulbs dug up in the fall or recently? If they were in the ground over the winter months you should be able to plant them now and hopefully have some blooms this spring. If they were dug up earlier you can still plant them but they may not bloom this year.
I was given some white tulips about 4 days ago and they were nice and green with 2 white flowers. I see another bulb sprouting and a flower appearing in another sprouted bulb but the 2 flowers that were already there are turning yellow. What's going on with them? I just moved them to a bigger pot with fertilizer. Should I leave them or place them back in the original pot? I also placed them outside and I live in south texas. Please help I don't want to kill them.
Probably the PH of the soil in the new Pot you planted them is higher sometimes that affects the colors of the flowers even after blooming I had some that were Pink and my husband dumped coffee close to them and later they turned red wine color ... they survived no worries but they changed color they will go back to the original color if they get non acid soil
Is it too late to plant tulip pallada in pots in Georgia.
