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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 just let my squirrels plant my tulips! Lol
I need to know how to plant them
Thank you.
I鈥檓 a new gardener and love the tips FA gives me
A few years ago we got a half dozen bulbs for our little corner flower garden shared with a rose bush, Hyacinths and Sweet Peas on a trellis. A quick count now puts the number coming up both in the garden and out into the lawn now at just over 70. When and under what conditions can they be transplanted? The ground is quite heavy clay here in Calgary and we don't usually plant until after May long weekend as frost is a definite possibility till then.
How much do tulips grow each day? The answer could be in inches, as a decimal, either one you want. I just need to know. Thank you.
How would I go about planting bulbs in a 7鈥 deep wood chip mulch?
The tulip bulb package should specify the planting depth for the tulip bulbs. Don’t plant into the mulch directly. Dig a hole for each bulb, add a double handful of potting medium and plant the bulb in the soil at the right depth, then cover back up with the wood chip mulch and level it out.
My son gave me a pot of tulips. When can I plant them in the ground?
Potted tulips given in winter or early spring are likely forced (made to bloom earlier than they would normally) for a seasonal display indoors. These are usually treated as annuals (tossed after blooms are spent), and many won’t flower again next year. However, some types of tulips, such as Darwin or species tulips, do better about transplanting/reblooming, so you can certainly try an experiment to see what happens. It is possible to plant forced tulip bulbs outdoors, although they may not bloom until the second or third year after you plant them, if at all, and the blooms might be smaller. Some tulips just naturally only produce blooms for 1 or 2 years.
To try and plant a bulb outdoors for future blooms, you’ll need to give the bulb lots of TLC, including good light, enough water (but not too much), and proper fertilizer. First set the potted tulip in a sunny, cool spot. Care as you would normally, including water and fertilizer, while it is blooming. Wait until the flowers have faded, then cut off the flower stalk. This will help the plant to focus on making food (via its leaves) rather than on creating seeds. As the leaves start to turn yellow, stop fertilizing and gradually cut back on watering until the leaves turn brown and brittle.
At this point, especially if it is still springtime, you can plant the bulbs outdoors. Or, you can wait until fall. If you choose to plant in fall, cut off the dried foliage. Then you can either keep the bulbs in the pot, or dig up the bulbs and let them sit in a dry place for 1 to 2 weeks and then store them in a brown paper bag. Place the pot or the bag with bulbs in a cool, dry, dark place until fall. About 6 to 8 weeks before the first expected hard fall frost, you can then plant the bulbs outside.
my tulips bloom time has ended and the petals are falling off what do I do with the bulbs?
I put my tulips in the ground fall of 2018 and they came up beautifly last spring. So that the bed would have color during the summer I spread moss roses seeds which grew and covered the bed the way I wanted. The trouble is none of my tulips came up this year. Should they not have anything planted over them during the summer? Thank you
