Spring bulbs in pots - when they're finished

Evening all! I've got a load of spring bulbs in pots, and thinking about what to do with them after they're done. I want to recover the pots for other things. Here's what I'm thinking:

Crocus, Iris reticulata, alliums and daffs: plant them out in the garden 'in the green', leaves-and-all, once the flowers have died back.
Tulips: compost.. I've read they don't reliably re-flower, or not as well.

Does all of the above sound right?

 

Yeah that's mostly what I do, they take a couple of years to get back to reliable flowering again though.

 

Alternatively and if you have space, you could have pots for spring bulbs and pots for other plants. Just move them around as required and no need to dig out the bulbs ( except the Tulips ).

 

I've heard about Tulips not re flowering well. But I have some in beds that have flowered 100% for 4 years. I would pull them up and discard them only when they lose there performance.
( Now I do know what is going to happen this spring - their 4 year ! )

 

Encourage Your Tulips To Come Back

Worth a read.

 

I have a thing about growing bulbs. Generally speaking, they will provide you with a delightful splash of colour. If you are fortunate in having a latge garden and perhaps as an added bonus, a copse or similar. Then for many bulbs, whatever their flowering season being. You have every chance of growing with success. So planting them in the ground is probably the best idea.
Sadly for me and many town dwellers, large gardens are a rarity. Here perhaps we are forced to grow our bulbs in pots or containers.

How and where planting, of course calls for care and attention. There are several suggestions regarding planting depths and spacing. Perhaps the most familiar quote is. Plant the bulb twice it's own depth. OK. If this works for you. Then carry on. However this is not the wise course in general. Over time, much has been written on the subject. So it may prove beneficial to read-up on any new species you are going to grow.

I, having what I term a tiny garden. I prefer to use pots for my bulbs. I can sink the pots into the ground or place them here and there. I use clay pots for sinking, although plastic pots with holes drilled in the sides can prove useful. So the bulb grows, flowers and fades. Removal of the pots gives you back some garden space. Storage space might be a bit of a problem, but whatever, allow the bulbs to be available to the seasons changes, just as if they were in the ground.

Especially when planting pots. Some bulbs, such a lilies, which I grow can produce some heavy greenery. When planting. Take time to insert some kind of stake. Slit canes are ideal. Insert the cane at the back of the bulb. In other words. You may have several bulbs in the pot. Keep the matker stakes to the center of the pot. As the bulb grows, these markers can be replaced by stronger stakes, simply withdraw the marker and insert the new stake. This way you avoid spearing the bulb, and believe me, especially with lily bulbs. This can be a costly accident.

Thanks for reading this. Enjoy your gardening.

 

I always plant out “spent” bulbs, whether they are forced -eg hyacinths, or been in pots, at the end of their flowering. I carefully lift the bulb with greenery and leaves intact, and plant in an appropriate place in the garden. Bulbs that were in planters I find will flower the following year, if maybe not so vigorously, and then as normal in following years. The forced hyacinths have pathetic little flowers the first year in the ground, but then flower well in subsequent years. (If they come in a pot of three, I plant out without disturbing the roots, as I think a little clump helps them to naturalise, as much as hyacinths can).
Edited to add: this treatment includes tulips.

 

I have some tulips that have been in the same place for more than 20years and they flower every year.
Others I have planted have disappeared after the first year.

Some even appear to change, (revert perhaps) and the flower form changes.

 

Thanks guys for all the really helpful responses. I'm out in the countryside with a fairly big garden so space is not at a premium which means I can take chances with things that don't work.

Regarding the crocuses and daffs, I have just planted a 25-metre long native hedgerow (bare-root whips) and I'm thinking they might be good for underplanting that, since it's deciduous and won't bulk out for a few years they should get enough dappled sunlight light in spring time while it's still bare.
For the iris and alliums I believe I need to find a sunnier spot.

Regarding keeping some pots back, untouched, I hadn't thought of that, I might try it with a few of the smaller ones. Any guidance on how to store them? I'm thinking of two options:
1. Tuck them away in the (unheated) garage and forget about them until next winter (water occasionally?)
2. Keep them outside and over-plant them through summer with some kind of shallow-rooted annuals

Maybe I'll find a spot to try planting some of the tulips. My soil is loamy and slightly acidic though (I'm in the low part of south Kent, not the Downs), I seem to remember reading somewhere that that's not ideal for tulips coming back?

 

Some useful tips on this site Mike I do dead head my tulips and let the leaves die back until I need to clear them for my annuals. I will now include an early spring feed for them as advised.

 

Don’t forget to deadhead your bulbs after they flower, apart from snowdrops.
Snowdrops grow very well from seed. Gather the seed pods in February/March (depending when they flowered!), and making a hole in the soil with your finger, about 2 joints deep, pop the seed head in the hole, whole, and recover with soil. Depending on the variety, you will have a little clump of flowers in 2-5 years... (The very early-flowering snowdrops take a long time to bulk up enough to flower)

 

That's a great tip! I've inherited lots of clumps of snowdrops (I only moved here in September), and I assumed the only way to spread them was to divide the clumps and re-plant. They're in full flower now - I don't know if that counts as very early for snowdrops? But I'll definitely follow your suggestion, nothing to lose by trying!

 

A lovely thread, because it's that time of year when Spring bulbs, bless them give joy, hope and promises.These little bulbs produce an abundance of colourful flowers, scent and admiration from passersby when in full bloom.
I put some, not all in pots. Over the next couple of seasons I throw out underperformers, replenishing with new, exciting varieties and more favourites.
Whatever we do, it's a super time of year for bulbs.
There are some very knowledgeable folk responding to this thread, I thank you for your expertise and advice.