Tulips

[Plocket]

OH really likes tulips and every year he'll buy a pot or two of them, and it's down to me to get them to flower the following year. Unfortunately so far they have been a disaster. They are in containers because that's the way we get them, and I keep them in the containers because they wouldn't like our soggy clay. I feed them when they've finished flowering, and keep them in the sunshine so they can do their thing as they go dormant, but every year they come up tiny or don't even bother. What am I doing wrong?

[Weeterrier]

I don't keep my tulips from year to year now, I just treat them like annuals, because I have never managed to get them to flower a second time. I feel it is such a shame though

[Tig]

I think it may be down to the depth of planting Plocket

My experience with container grown tulips is the same as yours, they do OK year 1 but year 2 they are usually rubbish.

The ones that have survived best in my garden were planted 9" deep - I followed some advice I picked up somewhere (can't remember whether I read it or heard it on a gardening programme though :

I have some of the dwarf varieties in the borders and they were planted about 6" deep and have kept coming back for several years.
I have one which was transplanted from the front garden when we widened the drive (with about ten others which have long since given up!) It is red and yellow, I spotted that it is in bud at the moment, the originals were planted over 11 years ago.
Others may have different tales to tell.
x Tig

[nightowl]

It's strange Tig, I think everyone must have the odd one that pops up bravely, all alone, every year, in an odd place

I have the same problem as you but with daffs after a couple of years they go blind, and it's not overcrowding

[JennyWrenn]

I thought it was just me - Dutchy gave me some think last year and they were wonderful; this year only three have popped up

I grew some superb Angelique last year but dug them up and thought would replant - didnt - too lazy - they rotted away - think it is best to leave in the ground in my case

[farmersboy]

I leave mine in

[Plocket]

The depth makes sense actually so I might try repotting ours when they are finished. I'm glad I'm not the only one with these problems though!! ;D

[Weeterrier]

Funnily enough, I have a little rogue yellow tulip which must have been moved with a clod of earth a couple of years ago. It reappears and flowers. So perhaps the trick is to stick them in the ground (I always use pots) and forget about them.
Must try that next year.

[farmersboy]

Thats all i do, Wee

[torontotrini]

Hi Plocket: My garden is clay and I don't have any problems with getting tulips to do well. I guess it might depend on the texture of the clay, but I tend to think not. I agree with the others who cited the depth of planting as the culprit, or perhaps even in a more subtle way, that leaving them in pots might be the problem.

Generally speaking though, it's usually the case that the performance of tulips go down from year to year. I once heard one of the gardening gurus here talking about that on a radio program, and the reason he gave was that the rest and rebuilding period here (Canada) for the bulbs is too short to give them the time they need to fully rebuild themselves for the next flowering season. I would think that would be particularly true for us here in this part of Canada. What I do with mine is leave them be for a few weeks after they bloom, and once the foliage starts looking yellowy, I cut them back and work some bone meal or blood meal into the soil around the bulbs. I get impatient to cut them back because I can't stand the sight of the crappy looking foliage after they bloom. I get good blooms from them for about 3 years, then I dig out all the bulbs and put new ones in.

And I think the reason why you tend to see a tulip popping up somewhere where you didn't plant a bulb it, or expect to see it is the squirrels. They can be a real pain as far as tulip bulbs go. They dig them out when freshly planted and bury them here there and everywhere, then apparently forget where they are all buried, so any that they don't go back to eat simply roots and pops up when the next growing/blooming comes around. The tulip you see popping up might not have even come from a bulb that was planted sometime in your own garden.

[Plocket]

Mmmm. Ok TT that's certainly something to think about. Perhaps I should experiment - half our pot of bulbs can go in the ground, and half in a deep pot. Then I can see how they do

We don't get squirrels in our garden at the moment (thank goodness) and I hope that putting them in the ground doesn't encourage them!

[Plocket]

them being tulips - not the squirrels! ;D

[torontotrini]

If there aren't any in the general ara or that hang around your garden you should be OK. As an insurance policy, use blood meal as a fertilizer when you plant the bulbs. The squirrels don't like it and it is a good fertilizer. BTW. I've never seen the red squirells around here. I know they're found in some parts of North America but I've never seen one. and yes, they are a pest in these parts too, but a sort of likeable pest. they're not the kind of problem that I understand them to be in the UK.

[Rosefriend]

I stopped having Tulips years ago bcause they rarely came back the second year. Then I bought them again and kept taking them out and putting them back in the autumn. I got a little fed up of that and stopped gain.

The last couple of years I have bought wild tulips which I love and they multiple each year....really lovely.

I have just read about the squirrels and we do have the red squirrels here - up to now I have never had any bulbs eaten at all....just wait now that I have said that!!

RF

[Weeterrier]

I have rather a lot of tulips in tubs at the moment, all ready to burst open their flowers. Most are from LIDL, and 99p for twenty. Will post photographs to let you see how wonderful they are, despite being so cheap.

[Auricula]

I bought about 100 tulips from the Eden Project 2 years ago.I have to grow them in pots because our soil is so wet that they rot otherwise After they died down I shook off the compost,stored the bulbs and replanted them last November. I lost about 1/4 during storage and of the rest about 3/4 have flowered, but they are not a patch on last year So, I've decided to buy fresh Dwarf tulips this year to see if they fare better and flop less - I do love tulips and hope the dwarf ones are better suited to pots

[Weeterrier]

The first of my May tulips is in colour today. Cannot wait for them all to open. I am beginning to really like tulips.

[Deleted]

Heres my Queen of the Night taken today, first year I've grown any tulips, but have to say it won't be the last

[Weeterrier]

Oh dear MM, another addiction There is no cure for us gardeners, is there?

[Plocket]

I have to say they are a funny colour for Queen of the Night - aren't Queen of the Night supposed to be nearly black?

[purplejulia]

Apr 29, 2008 15:19:39 GMT Plocket said:

I have to say they are a funny colour for Queen of the Night - aren't Queen of the Night supposed to be nearly black?

My words too Plocket.

Mine are very dark purple, almost black. I do have some purple ones too, but they are not Queen of Night.

PJ

[purplejulia]

Here are the two varieties.

[owdboggy]

We only grow tulips in the soil, not in containers and they come back every year and have increased. Our soil is a well drained rich silt. they were certainly not planted that deep and in fact some of them are flowering with the bulb on the surface.
Here are some of the 2,000 or so Attilla.

We only planted 500 of them a few years back.

[owdboggy]

And here are some different ones

[Tig]

2,000 - wow, if only we had enough room for that many And they look fabulous owdboggy.

The others are beauties too, and this one looks almost like a lily ..

Apr 29, 2008 16:03:55 GMT owdboggy said:

And here are some different ones

Tig

[owdboggy]

Well it is a Tulip and I think it is called Cynthia!

[Weeterrier]

That is interesting, because in one of the gardens I look after, there are tulips in the ground, and they come up every year. Do you think that is the key to keeping them? If I can find a patch (that is the hard bit) I think I'll give it a try next time. I have the little speciessy ones, but will try the others too.

[Tig]

I am going to look out for Cynthia, they are very attractive OB

[farmersboy]

Apr 30, 2008 8:51:59 GMT Weeterrier said:

That is interesting, because in one of the gardens I look after, there are tulips in the ground, and they come up every year. Do you think that is the key to keeping them? If I can find a patch (that is the hard bit) I think I'll give it a try next time. I have the little speciessy ones, but will try the others too.

Mine are left in the ground,and they come up every year,Wee,but my soil is quite light,and well drained

[nightowl]

Apr 29, 2008 18:55:42 GMT Tig said:

2,000 - wow, if only we had enough room for that many And they look fabulous owdboggy.

The others are beauties too, and this one looks almost like a lily ..

Apr 29, 2008 16:03:55 GMT owdboggy said:

And here are some different ones

Tig

Gorgeous! I love those mini tulips but don't seem to have a lot of luck with them I planted those lovely little orange ones one year, and the pink ones, but they disappeared after the first year.