by Mary Ann Mcgivern

Created on: August 05, 2010   Last Updated: August 07, 2010

Choosing bulbs

Tulips bloom in early, mid and late spring. Different varieties are short or tall, ruffled or true cups, pastels or primary colors. Purchase big bulb to get big flowers.  But if you are sorting through the plants you lifted from the soil last summer, go ahead and split the bulbs and replant the little ones. They may only leaf the first year, but they will grow bigger and flower for several seasons before they need to be divided.

Choosing a planting site

Take a good look at your garden space. It is autumn now, so you must remember how the sunlight falls in early spring, before the trees leaf. The tulips will need six hours of sun a day – but only through mid-April or early May, depending on whether your bulbs are early, mid-season, or late bloomers. So summer shade won't hurt them.

Imagine the bright tulip cups standing cheerily along a flagstone path or fronting lilies, poking through ground cover or marking the spot where, come mid-summer, annuals like cosmos and zinnias will bloom. Just don't plant them next to deep-rooted competitors.

When to plant

Tulips need to spend the winter outside, under ground. It won't work to keep them in a paper bag in the back of the refrigerator. Plant them any time from early fall until the ground is frozen. Once they are in the ground, water them along with the rest of the garden, until that first freeze; then let them sleep.

How to plant

Like most flowering plants, tulips prefer rich, well-drained soil. Dig a small hole, two to three times the depth of the size of your bulb. Place the bulb with the tip upwards and the flat core with straggly bits of root growth on the bottom.  (A common beginners' mistake is to plant bulbs upside-down.)

Grouping tulips

Landscapers recommend groups of three to six tulips rather than lining them up in rows.

Lifting tulips

By the end of May they will be spent, the green stalks withered and the flower head going to seed if you haven't clipped it. Many gardeners lift their tulips out of the soil now and store them in a cool basement, in paper bags. The bulbs may rot in the soil if it is hot and humid or dry out if it is hot and dry.

The bulbs will grow for a couple of years, and then they will divide and diminish if they are not lifted and replanted.

Spring delight

Follow these tips and in the spring tulips will surprise and ravish your heart.

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