A Guide for Growing Tulips

I remember as a kid helping my dad pick out tulip bulbs to plant each fall. The tulips were set out in cardboard bins, with a big picture of the bloom on the front of each box. Looking back, it seems like there were always snow flurries drifting down when we planted the bulbs.

My own garden today is filled with a wide variety of tulips. Some come back year after year while others I treat more as annuals because they don’t always come back.

Types of Tulips

Tulips are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 7 and come in a variety of types, ranging from tall single flowers to double-flowering specimens with so many petals they look like peonies. There are also smaller tulips, called species tulips, that come back year after year.

Tulips come in all colors, too, except for true blue.

Hybrid tulips

Many of the tulips sold today are hybrid tulips. They come in both single and double forms and are labeled as early, mid-season or late, depending on when they bloom. When purchasing these tulips, check if they are the type that comes back reliably every year.

Some of my personal favorites, that have come back for several years in my garden include:

• Early Prince Mix, a mix of yellow, lavender and purple tulips that flower early in spring.
• Angelique, a double-flowering pink tulip that opens later in spring.
• Artist, a single-flowering tulip with green strips on each petal.

Species tulips

I also love the smaller species of tulips that I plant where I’m sure to see them because they won’t be big and showy like hybrid tulips. A few favorites include:

Tulipa cluisiana, which only grows to about eight inches tall.

Little Beauty, with dark, almost purplish-magenta blooms, it only gets about six inches tall.

Tulipa sylvestris, also known as woodland tulips, with yellow blooms that almost look like lilies.

How To Grow Tulips

Planting

Tulip bulbs are planted in the fall.

• Choose a spot that will get some sun in spring, keeping in mind that the trees will be without leaves so what will eventually be a shady spot may be a sunny enough spot for tulips.
• Plant tulip bulbs in groups for best display in spring, in a hole that is two to three times as deep as the bulb is tall. Space tulip bulbs a few inches apart.
• Place the pointy end up and cover over with the soil you dug out for the hole.
• Pick up any loose bulb skins laying on top of the soil after planting. The smell of these can attract squirrels and other animals who will dig up the bulbs.

Watering

As long as you expect the usual amount of rainfall in the fall, it isn’t necessary to water your tulip bulbs after planting.

Fertilizing

If you have good soil, you may not need to fertilize your bulbs when you plant them. If you’re unsure of your soil’s fertility or a soil test shows it lacks phosphorus, use a fertilizer labeled for bulbs and follow the instructions on the package to determine the amount to mix into the hole.

You can also side dress tulips with some of the same fertilizer in spring to encourage good bulb development for the following year.

Deadheading

Once your tulips have dropped their petals, cut off the remaining flower stems so the plant will spend energy growing a bulb for next year and not on producing seeds. Cut off the foliage once it has died back completely.

If you are cutting tulips to use as cut flowers, cut them just as the buds begin to show color. They’ll open up nicely indoors within a few hours and last a few days.

Can You Plant Tulips in Spring?

Many people think about planting tulips when they see them in spring. If you didn’t plant them in fall and decide you want some in spring, even just for a bit of instant color, many garden centers sell sprouted tulip bulbs. They are growing in small pots and can be planted directly in the garden in spring.

When Is It Too Late to Plant Tulip Bulbs?

It is too late to plant tulip bulbs once your ground is frozen. The ideal time to plant tulip bulbs is once nighttime temperatures are consistently hovering around 40 to low 50 degrees, which is late September into October or November depending on where you live. If you find bulbs you forgot to plant and your ground isn’t frozen, plant them. As I like to tell people, “They won’t bloom in the bag.” It is always worth planting, even if it’s late.

Can You Grow Tulips in Warmer Climates?

While tulips grow best where there are at least 12 weeks of winter cold, you can grow them in warmer climates, such as Zones 8 through 10 if you plant pre-chilled bulbs.

Pre-chill tulip bulbs by putting them in the back of a refrigerator, away from ripening fruit (which puts off ethylene gas which harms the bulbs). Let them sit there for about 12 weeks. After chilling, plant the bulbs in the garden for a one-time bloom display. Or, you can often purchase pre-chilled tulip bulbs at garden centers and plant those.