Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Planting tulip bulbs
• Part 2 of 3: Caring for tulips
• Part 3 of 3: After flowering
• Tips
• Warnings

Tulips are a wonderful addition to any garden or lawn. You can grow beautiful tulips year after year if you take good care of them. It's very easy; no watering schedule or complicated fertilization techniques. Whether you are a beginner or advanced, this flower is an excellent choice in any garden.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Planting tulip bulbs

1. Plant the bulbs in the fall, 6 to 8 weeks before winter starts. It is best to plant tulip bulbs in October or November. The soil must be colder than 15 ºC.
   • If you have already bought tulip bulbs in the summer, you can keep them in the refrigerator (or in another cold, dry place) for about 2 months. Don't put them next to apples, though, as they give off ethylene, ruining your bulbs.
   • Most bulbs need a cold period of 12 to 14 weeks to give beautiful flowers in the spring. Do not buy bulbs after December 1, unless they have been "pre-cooled".
2. Choose a spot with plenty of sun and a little shade. It should be bright and sunny for much of the day where you plant tulip bulbs. Tulips love sunshine, but also cool soil; in any case, make sure that they cannot be scorched by the sun.
   • In the Netherlands they can stand in the sun all day long (the earth will always remain cool enough).
3. Choose well-drained, sandy soil with a pH of 6 to 6.5. Tulips do not like soil that is too wet. The soil should have good drainage, be neutral to slightly acidic, and fertile.
   • Tulips die from soil that is too wet. Never overwater tulips; ensure good drainage by sprinkling wood chips or even sand around the tulips.
4. Plant the bulbs about 3 lengths deep. The bigger the sphere, the deeper the hole should be. It must be at least 20 cm deep. Loosen the soil so that the water can drain properly, or create a raised flower bed.
   • The bigger the bulb, the bigger the flower will be.
5. Plant the bulbs 15 cm or more apart. They need about 10 to 15 cm of their own soil to grow properly, otherwise they will take each other's nutrients. Choose a plot of land where each tulip has its own soil.
   • Plant each bulb pointed side up. Then fill the hole again with soil and press it down firmly.
   • Tulips multiply quickly. Even if you only plan a few, there is a chance that you will have a whole family in the years that follow.
6. After planting, cover the tulip bulbs with fallen leaves, wood chips or mulch. If you are afraid of mice or other vermin, put a fence or cage over your bulbs.
   • Use a 2 to 5 cm layer of mulch, leaves or wood chips to protect the bulbs, to control weeds and to retain moisture.
   • When planting perennials, fertilize them every year to help them grow. You can use organic matter, compost or plant food.

Part 2 of 3: Caring for tulips

1. Water the tulips after planting. Immediately after planting, the tulips have well water needed to initiate growth. This is probably one of the few times you need to water them.
   • Do not water them again if you see leaves appearing. You can then spray them a bit with the plant sprayer, but that's it.
2. Only water growing tulips when it has been dry for a long time. If it hasn't rained for weeks, give your tulips a tiny amount of water. This will be one of the rare occasions when you have to intervene to water the tulips.
   • Tulips usually don't need water in the spring when it rains enough. The weather usually takes sufficient care of your tulips. Normal rainfall is all they need.
3. Do not leave your tulips with wet feet. If it has rained a lot, make sure there is not too much water on the spot where your tulips are. Tulips cannot tolerate wet feet, and if the soil is too wet they can die.
   • If you notice that water is stuck where you planted the tulips, you should move them to a drier spot. Dig them up and find a place where the water can drain better.
4. Give your tulips some fertilizer at the beginning of fall and early spring to keep them growing. A balanced fertilizer works well 3-4 weeks after planting. This is important with perennials.
   • Sprinkle about a tablespoon of fertilizer around each tulip bulb. That is enough for the whole "hibernation". Tulips can store nutrients very well for a long time.
   • Have you forgotten to fertilize them in the fall? Then you can apply fast-acting nitrogen fertilizer to the budding leaves.
   • Tulips are very easy at this kind of thing. If you have annual flowers, they probably don't need fertilizer at all. You can just plant the tulip bulbs and forget about it completely, no water or fertilizer is needed.

Part 3 of 3: After flowering

1. Check for plant diseases. Mildew gives brown spots on the leaves and turns the flowers gray. If one of your bulbs is not good, dig it up and throw it away, otherwise the disease can spread.If only part of the plant is damaged, cut that off and see if you can save the rest.
   • The only thing you can do to prevent disease is to take good care of the tulips. Make sure they get moderate water, a little shade and that they are in good, slightly acidic soil.
   • Aphids can be a problem, but you can easily get them off with a plant spray.
2. Cut the flowers off after flowering. Tulips produce seeds when they begin to wither, and these seeds weaken the bulb. Cutting the flowers off is better for both annual and perennial plants. Here's how to do that:
   • Cut the flower from the stem as soon as it has finished flowering.
   • Let the stem sit for another six weeks, or until the foliage begins to turn yellow.
   • Then cut the leaves at the bottom and throw it away. Mark the location where they were, so that you will know where the bulbs are later on.
   • However, if you want the tulips to multiply, don't do this. Then you want them to be able to reproduce with their seeds so that you get a whole colony.
3. If you have annual tulips, dig up the bulb too. Some tulips are annual, which means their entire life lasts only a year; they will not come back the following spring. When all the tulips have finished flowering, pull them out, bulb and all, and throw them away.
   • Many growers and gardeners prefer annual tulips. They are easy to grow, cheap and when the year is up, it's done. The following year they can experiment with other species.
4. Know if your tulip will return the following year. If you are dealing with a perennial, and if you have left the bulb in place and cared for it properly, you will notice that beautiful tulips emerge the following year (you may even find it there to a lot of; tulips multiply very quickly). Here are some strains that will return without much effort on your part the following year:
   • Ad Rem, Angelique, Apeldoorn, Apeldoorn's Elite, Arabian Mystery, Ballade, Ballerina, Beauty of Apeldoorn, Beauty of Parade, Blenda, Candela, Cape Cod, Capri, Cassini, Christmas Dream, Christmas Marvel, Couleur Cardinal, Diplomate, Don Quichotte, Fire Queen, Flaming Purissima, Golden Apeldoorn, Golden Oxfort, Golden Parade, Gudoshnik, Hamilton, Heart's Delight, Hollands Glorie, Kees Nelis, Kingsblood, Linifolia, Madame, Lefeber, Maureen, Menton, Monte Carlo, Mount Tacoma, mrs. John T. Scheepers, Negrita, Orange Bouquet, Orange Emperor, Oriental Beauty, Oxford, Oxford Wonder, Oxford's Elite, Page Polka, Parade, Pink Impression, Plaisir, Princess Irene, Prominence, Purissima, Queen of Night, Saxatilis, Scarlet Baby, Schrenkii, Shirley, Showwinner, Spring Green, Spring Song, Tarda, Toronto, Turkestanica, Viking, White Triumphator, Yellowa, Yokohama.

Tips

• When the stem and leaves turn brown, dig up the bulbs so you can plant them elsewhere in your garden.

Warnings

• Be careful with fertilizing right after flowering. The chance that the tulips will get a disease is greater.
• More than 5 cm of mulch can be harmful to the tulips, as not enough light can reach the bulbs!