How to save tulips and blue bells bulbs

Any tip to save n store flower bulbs from ground to shed for the next season?

 

Tulips -

Monty says - take off any spent flowers to stop seed heads forming - let the foliage die back - dig up the bulbs - let them dry out - store them for planting next year.

Or, same as above, but leave them in the ground.

Bluebells -

As these 'naturally' stay in the ground all year - I'd just leave them alone.

Interesting bit of info. on tulips (discussed on this forum somewhere) - in time hybrid bulbs (which many of them are) 'revert' back to take on the characteristics of one of the original parent plants - so after a couple of years, a fancy tulip will revert back to looking like a normal tulip.

I normally buy bags of tulips for planting each year - but this time, I'm taking a punt and leaving them in the pots for next year - fingers crossed

 

Make sure your shed is mouse proof, or they will eat the lot.

 

Tend to think both are best undisturbed, but I'd definitely never dry off bluebells, they are best left alone.

 

The punt partly paid off - there's loads of foliage but fewer flowers than the first year - I think I'll go back to the planting fresh bulbs approach for next year .

 

I dig up the tulips and daffodils and put them in an onion bag and hang it up. The tops die off and I re-use the bulbs the following year.

 

Why? I leave mine in the ground forever .

 

Bluebells are native to the UK so leave them in the ground. Hybrid tulips and most species require a hot summer to form flower buds, if they are in well drained soil in a sunny spot then leave them; if not lift and store in shed. Daffodils tend to like cooler damper conditions so leave them in the ground.

 

I usually plant bulbs in pots/containers, bluebells are self sown and come and go as they please in the garden. The pots/containers are kept in the open garden and so live a more natural life. I think that to keep lifting and storing more is lost than saved.

 

This is really interesting, I put some hybrid/fancy peony type tulips in the ground year before last they flowered well and I picked the flowers to put in a vase.. this year I expected them to either not come up again or not flower as well but to my surprise, they have multiplied in the back garden but they haven't opened so I don't know if they have reverted but 2 have opened in the front garden and have reverted..

Last year .



This year in the front.. quite like the green!



The "normal tulips I've put in pots year before last have been tucked out of the way because of poor flowering. I'm assuming the pots/ compost has not so good drainage and is causing it?

 

Not necessarily. The majority of gardeners and plant lovers are oblivious asto what goes on behind the scenes. In the past. You had, say for example a daffodil bulb. You planted it, it grew and flowered, died back. in time you noticed the bulb has produced an offspring and so the family increased.

Ok most gardeners eventually try their hand at propagating, taking cuttings and grafting. For example. I grow lilies. I had the choice. Buy more bulbs. Save the seed. Save the bulbils. Save the bulblets. Scale the bulbs.
With lilies. Buy more bulbs. Instant but perhaps costly.
Bulblets = tiny new bulbs attached to the parent bulb.
Seed. and bulbils. Bulbils are tiny new growth that appear in the leaf axis. In situ they will readilly produce leaves. Quick tip here. Lay the plant down and cover with compost the whole plant. The bulbils will grow fast.

Summary. All this takes time and in the case of the lily. You are looking at around four to five years before seeing a flower.

In todays world. Science and finance have joined forces. The gardening craze is on. More plants equals more dosh. Science has stepped in and, go on big trumpet fanfares etc. Science has discovered waht we now know as, 'Cell Propagation'. In simple terms. Just as you might have a smear test taken. Here that botanical smear test results in an almighty increase in young plants and will added technololgy, the garden centers are always full of new plants.

Sorry folks. What many call mother nature. I call Grand Creation. The old system remains the best.
Enjoy your gardening.

 

I leave all my bulbs in the ground . The few Tulips I have in large containers I let die back for as long as I can . When I need to plant up the container for summer , I lift the bulbs and stems and lay them in trays covered with damp compost. A month later I clean the bulbs off and store them in onion bags.