Planting Tulip Bulbs and Tips for Longer Blooming – ISPUZZLE

If there is one plant that embodies the feeling of hope, it is the tulip.

As a history buff, I’m fascinated by how the Dutch tulip mania developed in the 17th century and how it was the first cycle of boom and bust to be captured in real time. Tulips infected with the tulip burst virus were traded as commodities until their prices skyrocketed and the bubble burst. Talk about hope!

As a gardener, I find planting tulip bulbs to be the last sign of hope for next year’s growing season.

Think of it this way: you bury something in the ground and you don’t see results for six months; then come spring and you will be rewarded with a wonderful bouquet of flowers in warm colors and cheerful combinations.

If you’re new to growing tulips or want to learn more about these beautiful flowers, read this guide on how to get these lovely spring blooms in your garden.

How many varieties of tulips are there?

I took this photo on my last trip (certainly not the last) to the Keukenhof Tulip Garden.

According to the Keukenhof Tulip Garden (the largest tulip garden in the world), there are 15 groups of tulips with thousands of different varieties.

For a complete overview of tulip types and some of the most popular varieties, check out our guide here: 15 Most Popular Tulip Types and Cultivars (With Photos)

When is the best time to plant tulips?

You should always plant tulip bulbs in the fall, from late September to December if the ground is not frozen. Ideally, you should place the bulbs in the ground 6-8 weeks before the first frost. These dates vary depending on your USDA zone (or equivalent).

This period gives the bulbs enough time to establish forage roots before going dormant for the winter. Thanks to these initial roots, the bulb remains hydrated and anchored during the winter months.

This bulb is bare, so it needs time to develop roots before the ground freezes.

Don’t rush if you have a warm fall. If the soil around the bulbs is too warm, they will start to sprout prematurely and the spring bloom may be compromised. It is better to make the mistake of sowing too late than to sow too early.

I forgot to plant my tulips! What do I have to do?

Inhale, you can still plant your tulip bulbs until Christmas if your soil is soft enough to dig. Most spring bulbs need a minimum of ten weeks of cool temperatures for the plant to go through a full bloom cycle in the spring. Just be sure to cover the bulbs well to give them a chance to develop foraging roots when temperatures drop.

How many tulip bulbs should I plant?

It depends on the look you are going for. Personally, I prefer a more compact look rather than sparse.

In previous years, although I described my tulip planting as quite compact, when the flowers came out I realized that I had planted them too far apart for my liking. I think my mistake came from visually judging plant spacing as I usually do with perennials. But keep in mind that tulips grow one upright flower per bulb, so once they bloom, they aren’t more crowded (like perennials).

Some suppliers do the math for you and pack the bulbs accordingly. These bulb mixes from my local garden center are designed to cover one square meter (about ten square feet) with about 60 bulbs (50 tulip bulbs plus 10 anemone bulbs). It’s a very generous planting pattern, but it will have a much stronger visual impact than scattered flowers.

Now you no longer have to choose which tulips you want to buy, only the combinations.

The disadvantage of this method is that it can be quite expensive. That I decided to expand my collection of flower bulbs each year, rather than give in to the prohibitive temptation of planting them all at once. I choose bulbs I can save and add a few new cultivars each year, gradually expanding my tulip field each fall.

The recommendation of around 6-9 tulips per square foot assumes you are planting bulbs only. If you are propagating tulips in your flower beds, you can space the plants about four inches apart.

How deep to plant tulips?

Plant tulips three times as deep as they are tall. So if your tulip bulb is two inches long (from tip to root), dig a six-inch hole and lay the bulb in with the tip up. Then repeat with the rest of the balls.

The purpose of burying the bulbs so deep is not necessarily to insulate them from the cold, but rather to protect them from temperature fluctuations.

The bulbs are quite big so I have to bury them deeper.

I like to work in batches: first dig the holes, then put the bulbs in them, then cover the whole thing with soil at the same time. This allows me to judge at a glance the regularity of the spacing of the bulbs.

This fall I am testing a spiral of tulips alternating between ‘Grand Perfection’ and ‘Gudoshnik Double Late’. I chose these two varieties of tulips because they have showy flowers that bloom at the same time and on stems of similar length. When I make a pattern, I prefer to lay out my favorite design before planting the bulbs.

My ‘Grand Perfection’ and ‘Gudoshnik Double Late’ toggle design

If you have trouble judging if you’re digging to the right depth, buy a trowel with inches (or centimeters) etched on it. Spacing instructions are easy to follow, so this tool takes the guesswork out of the equation.

If you are planting a lot of scattered bulbs (for example, on a lawn), you can use a bulb planting tool. Allows your dolls to dig through compacted soil more easily. A tip though is to make sure there is no water left at the bottom of the hole when using this tool.

You don’t need to fertilize tulips no matter what well-meaning salespeople try to sell you. The tulip bulb has everything it takes to achieve perfect flowering. Feeding tulips often results in long stems (and if desired, just buy taller varieties).

Where should I plant my tulips?

Say it with me: well-drained soil.

It is very important to plant the bulbs in soil that drains quickly after a storm. If the water forms puddles that won’t drain for hours after the rain stops, that spot will remain too wet for the bulbs to grow. Not only will they not bloom, but the bulb will split due to excess moisture. Once this happens, the bulb will no longer have enough power to produce flowers.

Before I start planting my tulips, I sprinkle a layer of mature potting soil.

If your soil won’t drain and you can’t choose another location, you can try amending the soil with bark, compost, well-rotted leaves, and even a little sand to aid drainage. Till the soil well to loosen clumps and facilitate deeper penetration of feeder roots.

As far as sunlight availability goes, spring bulbs do well in full sun (as long as you don’t let the soil dry out) or dappled shade. If you have a shady spot that you want to cover with bulbs (for example, under a tree or along a shady walkway), choose the group of tulips that are very adaptable and hardy.

A useful rule of thumb to remember is that north facing tulips bloom later than south facing tulips. So if you’re looking for a full display, plant your tulips with more sun in late spring and shade your tulips in mid-spring. In this way, it is possible that the flowering periods partially overlap.

Can I leave my tulips on the ground?

In essence, tulips are like perennials. However, because growers cross them for other characteristics, like color patterns and height, we generally treat bulbs as annuals these days.

The closer the tulip group is to their Central Asian ancestors, the more likely they are to return year after year.

If you want to grow tulips as perennials, you can choose from the following groups: Botanicals (species), Greigii, Kaufmanniana, (some) Darwin hybrids, (some) Fringed and (some) Triumph.

Some Triumph tulips (like this ‘Freedom Flame’ above) can be left in the ground.

Of course, you can leave all your tulips in the ground, but keep in mind that after a few seasons the flowers will gradually become smaller and less true to the ones you originally planted. To combat this, you can always plant new, fresh bulbs around them to keep your spring bulb bed colorful and full. I like to call these “insurance bubbles”.

If you decide to grow your tulips short-lived to maximize their chances of blooming again next year, be sure to cut the flower before it attempts to go to seed. Then wait for the leaf to die on its own. Once you’ve dug up the bulb, remove any dead foliage and allow the bulb to dry out completely before storing.

You can store your harvested bulbs in a cool, dark place with good ventilation during the summer. Always store your bulbs in paper bags, cardboard boxes or perforated plastic bags.

I usually save the bags the tulips came in and reuse them to store the bulbs in the summer.

How to maximize the flowering time of tulips?

The best way to extend the flowering time of tulips is to mix bulbs with different flowering times. As you plant, simply toss all the bulbs into a bucket or wheelbarrow, mix them up, and play the “bulb lottery” by randomly planting the next one in the pile.

Otherwise, there is no potion to maximize bloom time. Tulips will continue to bloom as long as the bulb has the energy to sustain it, and for most tulips this translates to a few weeks maximum. It is not something that we gardeners have control over. We also have no control over the weather, another important factor in flowering time.

Mixing tulips from different groups is the best way to extend the tulip season.

What we can control, however, is bulb care. Ensuring the bulbs are well watered during a dry fall will ensure they develop strong enough roots to keep the bulb hydrated and hardy enough for a longer bloom period.

Likewise, once the flowers are gone, we make sure to let the foliage rest for the time it takes for it to die back naturally. This ensures that the bulb stores enough energy through photosynthesis to power the next year’s flowers.

Planting tulips is an exercise in delayed gratification. But once spring arrives, you’ll be glad you made the effort.

Choose a Variety of Tulips for Your Garden

Whether you want an early or late blooming variety, a tall or short tulip, a variety that can stay in your garden, a traditional looking tulip or a curly tulip, here is a tulip variety for you.