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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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Hi,
I am not good with gardening but my wife wants my lawn looks beautiful like my neighbors' next year. When is the best time/season (summer or fall) to plant Tulip Bulbs? If I will be successful, my wife will give me an ok to buy my new Camera. That's our deal. Please help me. Thanks.
Ok so let start by me telling you I am not a gardener, but I do love tulips. (By the way, start looking for the camera of your dreams because this is a no brainer!!)
Buy your tulip bulbs when the local stores start selling them for the best choice, and when they are running out of stock, for the best deals.
Look on the bag and fool proof instructions are always there, in graphic form.
They will tell you when to plant ( fall is always best, maybe a month or three weeks max before the snow flies... (Last Dec. found a bag of bulbs in the closet I forgot to plant, and put them in on Dec. 19... and sure enough, they had started to sprout but in they went anyway. This spring they ALL grew beautifully.) and how deep,.... anything 6 inches or below should do, and how far apart, usually about 4 to 6 inches.. pointy end up. I would advise that you dig the earth a couple of inches lower than the bulb, and fill it back in so the soil is loose and can drain well.. A few small stones in the bottom of your hole is a good little bit of insurance for good drainage. I prefer to dig a trench about 10 inches or so wide and space my bulbs in two rows one across the front and one across the back of the trench alternately (Zig Zag pattern) as that seems to work well for me, instead of individual holes, but you make your own call. I have one of those metal tulip bulb hole tools and they are really handy and fast, so if this is going to be an on-going thing, and you want to plant them individually, I would recommend the investment of a few dollars on one, or, like me, just use a shovel and dig a trench. Now as for the end result. You can buy early season, mid season and late season blooming bulbs, so look on the package for the expected date. Here in Ottawa Ontario, Canada, I have tulips blooming from as soon as the snow allows, usually early to mid march (and new snow will not hurt them, don't rush out to cover them, it's ok!) until the end of May. Usually the early ones are short, maybe 5 inches max tall and the late ones might be 15 inches tall. The mid to late bloomers are the most beautiful and colorful.
And here is the clincher, they will bloom a second and third year... with no effort on your part... Those early bloomers are at least 10 years in the ground.
Now for the choice of colours and display. I prefer "bunches" maybe 15 or 20, in a close knit patch, maybe 2 to three or four feet long max. then space that patch a few feet from the next patch, and dig in another 15 or 20, this time of a different colour and maybe a different breed. (the single tulips are what everyone looks for but if you buy a patch of "Doubles" they have a whole lot more petals on them and almost resemble a carnation... There are also "Parrot" ones that have very pretty ruffled edges... look at the picture and see what you want...mix and match your colour of flowers and you will be able to buy the most expensive camera your wife can afford!!!
Good luck, from Ottawa, On. Canada.
Thanks. This gave me just the info I wanted to transplant some of my "ancient" bulbs that have survived with neglect by tenants.
Live in Florida now. Have tulip bulbs in vase blooming now. How can I save them and hopefully get them to bloom next year. Thanks
Our local public garden featured spectacular massed tulip displays this spring. They now are digging up the bulbs and offering them for sale. (Growing zone 5)
1. Because the bulbs are being dug before the leaves die back, will the bulbs lack the vigor needed to bloom again?
2. Would it be best to replant the bulbs this spring, or store them until fall? If the latter, what is the best way to store them?
Hi, I was sitting on the lawn with out 11 month old grandson and showing him our bright red tulips. I touched the petal of one and thought I received a slight shock, he copied me straight away and jumped back with horror on his face. Our daughter came into the garden a few minutes later and the same thing happened to her. So it wasn't my imagination. Can anyone explain this strange occurrence?!
Hi...I received tulips in a pot this spring. Can I take them out since the flowers are done and plant them now?
And, I also forgot to plant tulip and crocus bulbs I bought last fall. Will they grow if I plant now and since they are dry, can I re-hydrate them somehow and be successful?
Hi Margie,
Yes, you can plant the potted tulips in the ground. They will not bloom again this year. Plant the tulip and croucus bulbs in the fall. They need the cold months to go dormant and then will bloom next spring.
We moved to a house where the previous owner had planted Halley's Comet type tulips (yellow with red stripes). They bloomed beautifully for a number of years but now, over the last two years, they seemed to have lost their red stripe and the yellow is not as vivid. Is there a way to bring back the red/yellow coloring or do I need to plant new bulbs? Is there a way to prevent this from happening again, if I plant new bulbs? Thank you!
We probably would not plant these. The bulb would need a nice rest, including a chill period (think of the normal cycle: plant in fall, it enjoys a chill in winter, then begins to grow in spring. In all likelihood, there is not time in the calendar for it to go through it鈥檚 cycle. You could try鈥f the bulb is not all mushy from the water鈥ut keep your expectations in check. Displays such as yours in water are usually meant for a single performance. In the fall, buy a bag of bulbs to plant and you will have a flower show in spring 2017.