Tulips

Following on from another thread, what's best for tulips - leaving them in situ year after year or lifting them once the foliage has died down and replanting in the autumn?

And storage?

 

When I get home, I will look in the bulb order book I use. And post the names of the tulips that I have successfully left in year after year which double also. The ones I know I don't plant are the late bloomers, like for my area that come up in June.

 

I only grow the smaller species tulips, they do seem to come through the winter ok and even multiply. I also like them more than the big blowsy ones, plus they often flower early in the year.

I have grown the bigger type tulips in the past, but if left in the ground they rarely make an appearance the following year, they do not like to be wet in winter and being in the Southwest we get a lot of rain. You could try them but put a good handful of sharp sand or grit under each bulb and hope for the best.

 

I put them in deeply and leave them in-unless I don`t like them when they flower, these are the ones I planted in Nov 08 and although it has a beautiful flower ( they aren`t taken from my own as far too soon, just googled) the large thick leaves are already putting me off so not too sure of them yet.


interplanted with


We`ll see.

 

I only like parrot tulips. So far the leaves aren't too obtrusive, but as they're interplanted amongst perennials the leaves will be hidden from view mostly, especially when they're fading.

I'm not great at storing bulbs, from experience, so leaving them in situ would be more convenient. Its just frustrating when I hit one by accident :(

 

I leave them in they are up now even after this cold winter.

 

Again, continuing from another thread, I've decided not to lift the 1,000 tulip bulbs I planted last year, when they finish flowering. Especially as there are three different colours, in a pattern, and I'd never be able to guarantee that again. (I went over to the client's yesterday and mercifully they're all coming up, despite the wet and cold).
Instead, I'm going to plant perrenials and annuals in the spaces between them (Some will have to be created by moving bulbs, then hopefully there will be interest throughout the summer.:thmb:

 

That`ll save your back Chris, much wiser choice. I banked on some not coming up on mine but they all are which is why I have a problem (potentially shading or crowding out any fragile plants to follow) with the size of the leaves.

 

Not a bad problem to have Claire!

 

That`s because I am ignoring my three leyllandii Chris lol.

 

SussexG - This is a very good question and I would like to know the answer. I understand that the smaller and closer the Tulips are to the species the more likely they are to survive. But it does seem to be the general consensus that most cultivated tulips don't thrive. They may hang on and disappear slowly over the course of a few years, but they are not perennial in the way that many herbaceous plants thrive and multiply with time. I just found this :-

Propagation: Tulip bulbs should be set out at the end of autumn for flowering the following spring. If set out too soon, they may begin to grow and get caught by frost; too late and they won't have enough time to develop an adequate root supply. The bulbs of garden tulips are planted so that their tops are 6-8 in (15-20 cm) beneath the ground surface - up to 12 in (30.5 cm) deep if you plan to leave the bulbs in the ground for more than one season. (Note that this is deeper than for most bulbs.) The bulbs of botanical tulips are planted just 4-6 in (10-15 cm) below the ground surface. Tulips can be maintained perennially if the bulbs are lifted after flowering and allowed a dry, airy rest during the summer. Dig the bulbs after the leaves begin to yellow, but before they have turned completely brown. There are some cultivars (in the Kaufmanniana, Greigii and Fosteriana divisions especially) and many species (T. sprengeri, T. sylvestris, for example) that can be naturalized in a meadow or lawn and allowed to remain in the ground. Mature tulip bulbs produce offsets that can be separated after lifting and planted out at the appropriate time. It may take several growing seasons before the young offset bulbs start flowering themselves. It is possible to stimulate increased production of offset bulbs by making a cut on the mother bulb with a knife. full version is here http://www.floridata.com/ref/T/tulip_spp.cfm

This confirms my thoughts. Christopher Lloyd always lifted his Tulips, but never explained exactly why. I lifted some for the first time last summer, and after drying I was surprised to see that they had all broken down into several smaller bulbs. ie the original bulb no longer existed. I don't know if this is usual. CL then said to seperate them into two piles, of those big enough to flower the next year, and those not big enough. He then replanted the larger ones in the border and put the small ones in a nursery bed for next year.

Whilst I understand that lifting bulbs makes them more perennial, I would like someone to explain why that is better than leaving them in the ground.

 

I'm getting headache now!:dh:

 

SussexG - you sound as though you are getting confused. I had a Google and a think about this last night and it has become clear to me what is going on. The chance of Tulip bulbs living and thriving depend on two main criteria. How you treat them, and what sort of bulb they are.

1) If you lift them each summer after flowering they are much more likely to thrive.

The reason for this is that Tulips come from central Asia where the winters are wet and much colder than the UK, and summers are very hot and very dry. Over millions of year Tulips have evolved to cope with these conditions. They start into growth in winter, they flower in the spring when it is warmer and insects are around to fertilise the flowers, and after flowering they dry out and go dormant and rest as their way of surviving the hot dry summers.

When they are grown in the UK, they have no problems with our winter. They can stand far colder conditions that they will see in the UK. However they need to dry out and rest in the summer. But our summers are wet, so if you leave the bulbs in the ground they don't go properly dormant and get their rest. By lifting them and letting them dry out, you are reproducing the conditions that they are used to.

2) Species Tulips are much more likely to survive than hybrids.

Species Tulips are the types that grow in the wild as opposed to hybrids that are the result of modern breeding. By definition, species grow and multiply in the wild. They are usually small and rugged. Modern breeders have produced hybrids that are larger and more blousey, but in the process these highly strung thoroughbreds lose some of their ruggedness.

Consequently true species and those very close to them have a much better chance of surviving than modern hybrids.

 

Thanks Peter

Based on that I think I will lift them after the leaves wither. It leaves the space they were in free for other things and will protect the bulbs from my digging activities.

Now...how best to store them?!

 

Wait till the leaves go yellow and are dying down, then lift them leaving the leaves on and keep them in a dry place, preferably in the light in case the leaves can still produce a bit more food. For the first time I lifted some Tulips last summer as an experiment. I just put them in an old pot in the garage by the window. Three months later I went through them. As I said the original bulbs had broken up into several new bulbs so I divided them up into two groups, large ones and small ones.

I put them into pots (it was after Christmas) and they are growing well. Of the 20 original bulbs, there are now 19 groups of leaves from the pots of big ones, and 37 leaves growing from the pot of small ones. I planted so many small ones so close I don't know how many bulbs 37 leaves represent.

As I mentioned above, the secret of success with Tulips has to be in reproducing as closely as possible the conditions that they would have got in the country they came from. The winter in the UK is the same but the bulbs need be lifted because the wet summer is not the same. In the southern states of the USA they have a very similar problem, but it is the exact reverse. Their summers are very hot and dry - the same as the Tulip's orign, but their winters are warm. Consequently bulbs left in the ground don't flower. The solution over there is to lift the bulbs in the winter and put them in the deep freeze for three months. This resets the bulbs' internal clock and allows them to flower after replanting. Neat :D