In Chicago, where I grew up, tulips were pretty much the only thing that kept us going through the winter. You can survive snow, and you can survive ice, and you can even survive the razor winds that blow in from the lake to rub your face raw, if you know that one day you will look out a window and see a clump of tulips, their swan necks improbably supporting the weight of their fat flowers.
But it can be daunting, in the autumn, to figure out how precisely to make tulips happen. Which varieties to plant? Will crocuses grow in your climate? How do you gracefully make room in the garden for flowers that bloom briefly before producing withering foliage you shouldn’t cut back for weeks?
For advice, I phoned bulb grower Scott Kunst of Old House Gardens in Michigan. He grows and sells hundreds of hardy and rare, vintage varieties of tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, bluebells, and other bulbs.
“Start small,” he suggested.
Here are Scott Kunst’s 10 ideas for planning a spring bulb garden:
Photography by Michelle Slatalla except where noted.
Know your microclimate.
Above: Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista.
Go outdoors and take stock of your garden’s microclimate: where are the sunny spots and well-drained soil? That’s where most bulbs grow best. Draw a garden plan to remind yourself.
Buy 5, 7, 9, or 11.
Above: At Rodsmarton Manor. Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer, for Gardenista.
While you’re looking at your garden, imagine clumps of bulbs, planted in clusters of five or more of a single variety; that’s how they look best.
Know your hardiness zone.
The US Department of Agriculture has developed a map of hardiness zones to help you choose plants that will survive in the climate of your geographic area. Check your USDA hardiness zone by entering your zip code at USDA Plant Hardiness Map; purchase bulbs that are rated for your zone. You can search for bulbs for your zone with the Heirloom Bulb Finder at Old House Gardens.
Plant bulbs in narrow, curving clusters that run parallel to the fence. “This is a trick I learned from Gertrude Jekyll,” says Kunst. “Rather than planting a big, round circle that’s three feet wide, make a gentle curve that’s about 18 inches wide. The bulbs will be in your line of vision when they bloom, and after they go over, other plants behind and in front will hide the yellow foliage.”
When deciding where to place bulbs, take size guidelines with a grain of salt. Heights of the same variety of bulb can vary from one year to the next, and in different growing zones. “It’s OK to mix up heights,” says Kunst. “It looks less garden-y than if you try to put all the tall ones in the back and all the short ones in the front.”
Most of us like to walk away after putting a plant in the ground, having made sure in advance that it has a good chance of surviving unaided. Right plant, right place—it’s a sensible mantra, made famous by the late Beth Chatto. Tulips, though, do not fall into this category, especially if you don’t live in the well-drained, mountainous conditions where the various species thrive. Tulip cultivars, pampered most famously in 17th century Holland, still have the reputation of a rich person’s amusement: They need to be replaced every year, if they haven’t already self-immolated from tulip fire (a fungal disease).
With smaller, simpler species tulips growing in popularity (they naturalize well, and are reliably perennial) it’s a reasonable question why anybody would want to get involved with Historic Tulips (historics), whether classed as Dutch Breeder or Broken, or the super-rarefied sub-group, not even available on the open market, called English Florists’. Our contributing photographer Britt Willoughby is one of those people. Below, she explains her obsession:
Above: Dutch Historic tulips tough it out in Britt’s Gloucestershire cottage garden.
Britt’s sumptuous show of art prints (on display until February at Thyme at Southrop, Gloucestershire) includes platinum prints, the expensive and painstaking process pioneered in the 19th century, and continued by art photographers due to its ravishing effect. “The platinum process started in the 1800s when English Florists’ tulips were being bred,” says Britt, who decided to apply this rarefied process only to these most rarefied, contemporary subjects. Dutch historics were left out, being from a different era. A limited edition, two-volume book, set by hand and printed at Rooksmoor Press in Stroud, is also part of her offering. This enthusiastic attention to detail and quality is an insight into Britt’s obsession with a flower that begins to die (beautifully) as soon as it starts to bloom.
Above: Britt is able to maintain a higher level of control over her nascent collection of rare English Florists’ tulips when they are planted in pots. Their bulbs are smaller than the Dutch historics.
Flaming and feathering is caused by a virus. When a tulip begins to “break” it is a source of some excitement, as well as anxiety. Tulips change every day when they are growing, and a break adds to their visual intrigue as the markings spread (or not) over the petals.
Above: A broken tulip in Britt’s garden, which will be separated from the others after it has finished feathering and flaming.
Tulip Breaking Virus was discovered in the 1920s, almost 300 years after the great tulip craze in the Netherlands. Spread by aphids, it is a more prosaic explanation for the entrancing markings of certain blooms. “It can happen any time,” says Britt. “I think my carelessness in the beginning led to almost all my Dutch bulbs breaking.” The virus can weaken affected bulbs over time and broken tulips need to be separated from the rest.
Dutch historics that are feathered and flamed through breeding are on the open market. Also known as Rembrandts; Britt buys hers (plus bulbs in solid colors) from Jacques Amand.
Above: English Florists’ tulips are exhibited traditionally in beer bottles, at the Wakefield and North of England Tulip Society Show. They have been graded and classed; the markings on these are bred into the tulips and are not caused by the Tulip Breaking Virus.
Gardeners have been moving away from using pesticides in their gardens at a swift pace in recent years, as awareness of their negative impacts spreads (thank goodness!). However, pesticides aren’t only introduced to the landscape via a homeowner’s application: Pesticides, including neonicotinoids (aka neonics), can also hitch a ride on plants you buy that have been treated with them at the nursery. And when a plant is treated with neonics, every part of it becomes poisonous (and not just to the insects it targets, but also pollinators, pets, and humans, too)—and those pesticides can persist for months and even years.
With the turning of the season, I wondered about the bulbs I hoped to plant this fall: Could I be unknowingly introducing pesticides to my yard?
Above: ‘Dream Touch’, ‘Copper Image’, ‘Vovos’, and ‘Palmyra’ tulips from Clare Coulson’s garden. Photograph by Clare Coulson, from Gardener’s Dilemma: To Tulip or Not to Tulip.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a great answer for this,” replied Stephanie Lucas, the director of horticulture for the Madison Park Conservancy, to whom I had reached out because she has lectured on bulbs. “Something like ninety percent of all tulips are still farmed in the Netherlands, and if you think about the amount of pest and disease pressure for that density, it is not at all surprising that farmers will be using every tool in their arsenal to continue to maintain that.” I had hoped that the European Union’s ban on neonicotinoids might mean that bulbs coming from the E.U. were a good bet, but Lucas explains, “The EU has banned a lot of neonicotinoids, but they’re only banned on crops that are considered to be particularly attractive to bees. Eighty percent of crops in the Netherlands remain unaffected by this ban because of that clause.”
Tjerk Dalhuisen, from the Pesticide Action Network (Europe) recently told the U.K. publication Gardens Illustrated, “The mass production of bulbs tends to be really unsustainable. Unfortunately, like in growing many garden plants, very toxic pesticides are used to control pests and fungi. The residues come with the bulbs and in the plants. If you want a lively environment with bees and butterflies, these bulbs don’t belong in your garden or on your balcony. Fortunately, there are organic alternatives, free of synthetic pesticides. Unfortunately, their supply is still limited but growing.”
And it is true that there is a small-but-growing movement of organic bulb suppliers in the U.K., where gardeners can shop at Organicbulbs.com, Organiccatalogue.com, and Organicgardener.co.uk. Stateside, I discovered there are fewer options. Brent & Becky’s is one source several eco-minded gardeners, including Edwina von Gal, the founder of Perfect Earth Project, recommend. The Hudson Valley Seed Co. says that all of the bulbs they sell are “free of neonicotinoids, as well as systemic fungicides and systemic pesticides.” For anyone who purchases bulbs wholesale, A.D.R. Bulbs Inc. says “all bulbs grown at their Dutch facility are neonicotinoid-free.”
On the plus side, Lucas points out that most flowers that grow from bulbs are not favored by pollinators, “Bulbs are cultivated plants. Tulips in particular don’t look remarkably close to their wild cousins…. These plants are so far away from their native place and so altered by human hands that most pollinators don’t recognize them [as food].”
Nonetheless, we do know that neonics can persist in soil for a long time. According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation’s paper “How Neonicotinoids Can Kill Bees” residues have been found in woody plants up to six years after soil drench application, an “untreated plants have been found to absorb the residues of some neonicotinoids that persisted in the soil from the previous year.” I could not find research that indicated if neonic-treated bulbs leech into the surrounding soil, so I reached out to the entomologist and ecologist Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, to ask what he knew. Tallamy told me, “We don’t know how far they leach from the plant, so the safest bet is to find a bulb dealer who does not use them.” If you can find organic bulbs, buy them.
Above: Tulip ‘Recreado’ with Geranium tuberosum. Photograph by Maayke de Ridder for Gardens Under Big Skies: Reimagining Outdoor Space, the Dutch Way, from Gardening 101: Growing Tulips the New Dutch Way.
We’re not going to tell you to put a halt on your entire bulb order, but what we home gardeners can do is let our bulb suppliers know that we want more organic and pesticide-free bulbs. “Provide the motivation,” says Tallamy. “Let them know there is a market.” Lucas adds that currently, “there isn’t a financial incentive to do product labeling particularly on a product that costs often less than $0.50 per unit retail.” When ordering your bulbs this fall, consider sending an email or making a call to let your preferred vendor know that you want to buy pesticide-free bulbs, or bring it up at the garden center if you’re shopping there. Gardeners have already persuaded bulb catalogs to carry and promote more native bulbs like Camassia, Brodiaea, and Triteleia, perhaps we can help bulb growers move away from pesticides, too?
In place of the annual tulip-mania that strikes at this time each spring, there have been discontented rumblings amongst growers and gardeners this year. All is not well in the world of tulips. Cries of “less is more” from formerly ardent maximalists, whose pots used to be bulging with a kaleidoscopic mix of vibrant tulips, have dotted social media. Why the fuss about this much-loved bulb? Read on to find out.
Photography by Clare Coulson, unless otherwise noted.
Above: The Lime Walk at Sissinghurst Castle, where tulips are the main event in April; here, they are displayed in large pots with a carpet of spring bulbs underneath.
A perfect storm of conditions have lately come to plague the tulip—quite literally in the case of tulip fire, a fungal disease (Botrytis tulipae) that attacks bulbs. The blight causes distorted or spotted leaves and ugly spots on the flowers. And it can go on to contaminate the soil. If your plants have it, it’s important to be rigorous about hygiene: Pull the affected bulbs and do not dispose of them on the compost heap where the fungus can flourish. Gardeners should also avoid replanting tulips in the area for the following three years. Similarly, if potted bulbs have been affected, remove and dispose of the bulbs (and later the compost, too) and make sure that you the clean pots very well at the end of the season.
Above: Tulips and narcissi in pots in the author’s garden.
Climate change is exacerbating the problem—in areas where there are no longer prolonged periods of cold during winter, it’s more likely that disease can flourish. (For tulips proper winter cold is an essential part of the lifecycle.) Very wet springs also contribute to the spread of disease.
Above: No other spring bulbs provide quite the pop of color as the tulip, available in endless colors and shapes. Here ‘Dream Touch’, ‘Copper Image’, ‘Vovos’, and ‘Palmyra’ work well with perennial wallflowers.
It’s not just the fungus. Tulips are a big investment and they’ve gotten more expensive. In my garden my annual spend on bulbs is far, far greater than the total of all other seeds, plants, and any other garden kit throughout the whole year. And in many cases those expensive tulip bulbs will not re-flower after the first season, especially if they’ve been grown in pots. At a time when we are all thinking far more about the choices we make and their impact on the planet, it all feels quite wasteful.
Above: Historic tulips also tend to be more perennial than many of the annual flowering tulips. ‘Malaika’ is a stunning historic tulip that is almost impossible to find for sale.
And then there is the constant threat from wildlife. Friends this spring have had their entire tulip crop dug up by mice, swiped by squirrels, or munched by passing deer, who seem particularly adept at eating just the flower bud and leaving the ugly (and useless) bare stem.
Above: The stunning Tulipa turkestanica photographed by Britt Willoughby Dyer for Polly Nicholson’s The Tulip Garden.
We are longtime admirers of English writer, cook, and gardener Sarah Raven, so we were super-excited to learn that her newest book, A Year Full of Pots, is now in bookstores. In this how-to guide on all things container gardening (the third installment her series that includes A Year Full of Flowers and A Year Full of Veg), she gives detailed instructions for planning and planting in pots for each month of the year, along with color groupings, tips for what to plant where and when, and detailed plant lists with stunning photos of her own pot-filled garden at Perch Hill.
Above: An overhead view of the Oast Garden, teeming with potted plants, at Perch Hill in spring.
Raven makes it easy for neophytes and experts alike to create a beautiful container garden, no matter the size. Here are six tips from her book on how to capture ebullience and beauty in a pot.
Above: Raven planning her garden with pencil and paper.
Pot planning goes old school. While there are plenty of fancy online garden planners, there is a wonderful satisfaction that comes with pencil and paper. Raven recommends sketching out the bones of your garden, the spaces, hardscapes and major plants and then overlaying tracing paper (or even baking parchment) and then cutting circles to represent your pots and arranging them where you think you’d like the pots and plants to go. Pro tip: She recommends cutting out photos of the plants you’re considering to make sure you can visualize the best you can what the garden will look like in real life.
2. Plan for a Bride, Bridesmaid, and Gate-crasher.
Above: This pot features tulips ‘Muriel’ as the Bride, ‘Nightrider’ as the Bridesmaid, and ‘Orange Favorite’ as the all-important color-contrasting Gatecrasher. Photo by Jonathan Buckley.
Raven breaks down one of the more complicated challenges in deciding what plants go into the pot in regards to choosing a color combination. Think about the colors as the Bride, Bridesmaid and Gatechrasher, she says. The Bride is the center of attention, the one that gets all the focus. The Bridesmaid plays a supporting role in the pot, as one would play in real life—same color as the bride but not as showy. Finally the Gatecrasher adds a bit of drama with contrast. Pro tip: Get some paint chips and play around with them to see what color combinations work together.
above: An example of some of the Boiled Sweet color palette.
For those who need a bit more guidance, Raven even provides specific color palettes to try: Dark & Rich, Boiled Sweet Brilliant, Warm and Soft, and Soft and Cool. Included are extensive photos for each palette for easy reference.
3. And don’t forget the Thriller, Filler, Spiller, and Pillar.
Above: Dahlia ‘Totally Tangerine’ with Salvia ‘Amistad’ and Panicum elegans ‘Frosted Explosion’ syn. Agrostis ‘Fibre Optics’ syn. Panicum capillare ‘Sparkling Fountain’ in a metal container. Erigeron karvinskianus grows in the terracotta pot.
One of the best things about being an adult: You’re allowed to play with your food. In spring, that means introducing edible ornamentation like tulip petals to everyday eats, transforming them from ordinarily good to effervescently appealing.
Celebrate what you have. Celebrate flowers. Celebrate the privilege of a meal, and of feeding yourself, or friends. Honor food. Do not forget what others have lost, and are losing, as we speak. Give them a voice through your own actions, but do not stop living. Put spring on a plate. Appreciate every petal.
Here’s an easy snack, and how I like to eat tulip petals in spring.
Some years ago, when I was preparing a spring picnic for an intimate, outdoor engagement party, I ran out of edible flowers (I was using violets, dead nettle, and crabapple blossom). But I needed one more snack. A vaseful of perfect tulips was on the kitchen counter. “Hmmm,” I thought, speculatively. I dove into the internet—and emerged from that rabbit hole to tear the cupped petals gently from their stems. That is how a new spring treat was born: Goats’ cheese and tulip petals, amenable to almost infinite variation.
Above: Tulips petals are best when the flower is open but not full-blown.
Tulip petals are delicately firm and hold their shape well. Their flavor is mild, like a lightly floral lettuce, although some colors and cultivars can be more intense. For eating, your own, garden-grown tulips are ideal, because you know how they were cultivated, but growers like Moonshot Farm (who sell from their stand in New Jersey and at greenmarkets in New York City) offer bee-friendly blooms that are grown without synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
Above: Picnic-bound tulips and chèvre, with henbit and bittercress.
For picnicking, the tulip petals offer a gentle nest for smooth balls of goats’ cheese mixed with cream (the cream smooths that mildly chalky, goaty edge that fresh chèvre sometimes has). These petal rafts also steady the balls, which have a tendency to roll about, en route.
Above: Spring on a plate.
These treats are the easiest finger food, eaten just so, or schmeared onto a cracker or piece of bread. Another advantage of using fresh goat cheese is that fewer people have an intolerance towards it, if they are lactose-sensitive.
Above: Dusted with sumac, the snacks take on a different personality.
The variations are easy and effective: Finish these cheese bites with different spices. I use black pepper, sumac, Aleppo pepper and urfa biber, ramp leaf salt, or smoked salt flakes. And the hyper-seasonal toppings might be sourced no further than your lawn or windowbox: chickweed, bittercress, the tiny flowers of dead nettle, henbit, or ground ivy.
It is the straight species, though, that hold the most promise. “In my opinion, species tulips are the future, and an exciting one,” says Polly. They can be naturalized in grass or gravel, taken indoors in small pots, or placed in a tulipière (this one above is made by Katrin Moye). Species tulips are the past as well: “also known as wild or botanical tulips [they] are the forerunners of all tulips grown in gardens today.”
The tulips that we mainly think of as classic are a bit like standard King Alfred daffodils or Pink Lady apples; the mainstream selection is narrow in comparison to the huge variety of species and historic cultivars. This book will persuade you that these are worth seeking out, and there is not much detective work to be done, if you consult Polly’s lists toward the back.
Above: Naturalized under globe-pruned pear trees, Tulipa clusiana ‘Peppermintstick’, is offered widely and easy to grow.
Successful, multiplying colonies of species tulips in a garden are the result of trial and error, while attempting to replicate their original conditions. Sometimes they need to be moved around before they find the right home. Tulipa clusiana is recommended for beginners. T. clusiana ‘Peppermintstick’ grows at the front of a border in Polly’s walled garden; its looks are a mix of diffidence and artifice that annual tulips cannot match. “It has obviously been introduced, but it looks completely natural and at home.”
Above: Naturally spreading, yellow Tulipa sylvestris is one of the original, un-hybridized wild tulips.
In gardens, Tulipa sylvestris is best placed among spring herbage and flowers that are not also bright yellow, so that its shape and subtle coloring, with brown-green stems and sepals, can be seen at their best. It’s shown here with Narcissus ‘Thalia’ and dark hellebores in woodland beds. Rough ground is more accommodating than a flower bed, though, as they spread through underground stolons. With a similar profile and intensity of color, Tulipa sprengeri is a throbbing, warm red species flower that may find itself radiating alone, or mainly against green. Polly grows them with irises.
This article zeroes in on one aspect of tulip care: watering.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
This is easy. Let’s get started!
Tulip Bulb Planting Protocol
Sow bulbs in the fall while they are dormant because they need a winter chilling period to stimulate spring blooming.
They require a planting depth two to three times as deep as their height. If sown too deeply, they may fail to bloom; if too shallow, they may heave out of the ground during winter freeze and thaw cycles.
Once in the garden or pot, apply a well-balanced, slow-release fertilizer, like a 10-10-10 NPK, for perennial varieties that readily naturalize. For those cultivated as annuals, you may skip this step.
Finally, thoroughly wet the growing medium. As mentioned above, well-draining soil is essential, or they may rot long before spring.
Unless there is a drought, it is unlikely that you will ever need to soak the soil again.
Jumpstarting Spring Growth
The next occasion for adding moisture is when the leaves sprout in the spring.
Moisten the ground or potting medium if it isn’t already wet from rain.
Use a hose or watering can and aim it at the soil, not the new shoots. Prolonged foliar wetness, especially in partially shaded locations, may promote the development of fungal conditions and is best avoided.
Warming temperatures and moisture trigger foliar growth followed by budding and blooming.
Supplementing the Rain
If the forecast regularly calls for rain, you will likely not have to water again during the growing season.
If it doesn’t rain for a week or so, moisten the soil so it doesn’t dry out. Remember to avoid direct contact with the flowers and leaves.
When in doubt, it’s better to err on the side of too little rather than too much water. As mentioned, bulbs are prone to rotting. Soggy earth and yellow leaves are telltale signs of oversaturation.
Conversely, if you are away and come home to find there’s been a drought, thoroughly saturate the soil.
Potted plants are more likely to suffer as containers dry out faster than the ground. Signs of stress include wilting and brown leaf tips.
Withholding During Dormancy
As blooming finishes, deadhead entire spent flower stems before the petals lose all their color. Leave the remaining foliage in place to feed the bulbs for next year’s display.
Continue to provide supplemental water in the absence of rain until all of the foliage is brown and withered. At this point, dormancy begins and moisture is no longer required.
Moisture Management Is a Must
Knowing how and when to water tulips is essential to successful cultivation.
Let’s recap our discussion:
Provide a location that drains well. After planting, thoroughly wet the growing medium.
Every spring, moisten the earth when new shoots appear. Avoid watering shoots, leaves, and foliage throughout the growing season, especially if you grow in partial shade.
If it doesn’t rain during the week, moisten the soil.
Thoroughly saturate the garden or pot in the event of a drought.
When the foliage withers and dormancy begins, discontinue supplemental watering.
When incorporating bulbs into an existing landscape, consider the cultural requirements of the plants already in place. If they are likely to require supplemental water during the summer, you may find that your bulbs rot.
Instead, opt for locations with established shrubbery, other moisture-sensitive bulb flowers, or native perennials to minimize the risk.
Do you have any watering suggestions? Please share them in the comments section below.
As gardeners we often worry about how cold it can get before our plants start to suffer, but there are many species out there that are just as sensitive to weather that is too warm. Tulips are one such plant.
If it doesn’t get cool enough for long enough in your area, your tulips won’t bloom.
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Ready to throw up your hands in defeat and give up your dreams of a field full of tulips?
It’s actually possible to trick your plants into thinking that they’re living in the sort of climate they prefer if your neck of the woods is too warm.
If you live in a warm climate and your tulips have struggled or even failed, this guide aims to set you back on the path toward success.
Coming up, here’s what we’ll discuss:
Anyone in USDA Hardiness Zones 8 to 10 will definitely have to chill their tulips.
You might even need to chill them in Zone 7, depending on where you plant them.
For example, if you plant your tulips next to a brick or cement wall, the reflected heat will be too much for the plants, and they’ll require chilling to rebloom.
How Cold Should Temperatures Be?
When winter rolls around and most plants go dormant, tulip bulbs are busy prepping for the coming year. The bulbs go dormant early, in the summer rather than the winter.
During the cold period of wintertime weather, the bulbs start to convert the starches and other carbohydrates that they collected and stored during the growing season into sugar in the form of glucose.
Not only does this glucose protect the bulb from freezing, but it supplies the nutrients the bulb needs to send out roots, flowers, and leaves in the spring.
The soil surrounding the tulips must drop below 55°F for all this to happen.
There isn’t an exact time period required for the bulbs to develop enough glucose to thrive, but somewhere between 12 and 14 weeks seems to do the trick.
Anything less than 12 weeks is probably too short.
Tulips require this period of cold weather because they evolved in regions of central and southwest Asia that experience extended cold winters.
Tricking the Bulbs
If you live somewhere where you can’t count on the soil temperature to drop and stay below 55°F for at least 12 weeks, you can place the bulbs somewhere cool enough to trigger the process artificially.
A refrigerator is the perfect spot.
You need to start this process about 12 weeks before the midpoint of winter.
Lots of people make the mistake of starting just as spring begins, but that would mean you’ll be putting the bulbs outside when the weather is still too warm.
This will cause premature sprouting and could kill the beginnings of the flowers developing inside.
Don’t start chilling until after December 1st at the earliest.
And don’t just toss a bunch of tulip bulbs into a bag and stuff it in the back of the fridge. This is a recipe for rot. Instead, use an old cardboard egg carton and place one bulb in each section. You could also use a mesh or paper bag to facilitate proper airflow.
Keep the bulbs far away from veggies and fruit. Types of produce like apples put out a lot of ethylene, and this gas can trigger premature growth.
After at least 12 weeks have passed, remove the bulbs from the fridge and inspect them for any soft spots or signs of rot. Plant the healthy ones in the ground at about six inches deep.
The ground might be frozen in your area at this time, and that’s okay. You’ll just have to break out the chisel or put your back into it with a shovel. Holes can be pre-dug earlier in the year as well.
You don’t want the bulbs to warm back up until they normally would in the spring, so don’t remove them from the fridge, get distracted, and leave them on your counter for a few days. Planting should be done right away.
How to Grow
Once planted in the ground, you can generally forget about them until the leaves start to emerge in the spring.
There is one exception to this: If you have an extended warm period with temperatures above 55°F for several weeks on the horizon, you’ll need to dig the tulip bulbs back up, put them in some potting soil in pots, and stick them back in the fridge.
The plant needs cool weather while they’re in the soil in late winter and early spring to develop strong roots. If it gets too warm, they won’t be able to develop, or they will be weak.
That said, there is a way to get around digging up the bulbs during a warm stretch.
If the daytime high temperature is hovering right around 60°F and not warmer, you can usually get away with covering the soil with a few inches of mulch rather than moving them to pots in the fridge.
If it’s dry in your neck of the woods during the winter, make sure to keep the soil moist but not wet.
The bad news about this method is that you’ll have to dig up the tulip bulbs every year and repeat the process, or just expect them to grow as annuals that must be replaced.
If you want to dig the bulbs up and regrow them, you’ll need to wait for the flowers and leaves to fade. Then, dig the bulbs up and store them in a cool, dark place in a refrigerator or cold cellar.
Then, give them another 12 weeks in the fridge starting at the appropriate time in late fall.
Even if you go through all this work, there’s no guarantee that your plants will bloom the second year. Artificially cooled bulbs just sometimes don’t work.
By the way, if you want to skip the digging up and replanting process, you can keep the bulbs in the pot that you chill them in.
Move the pot outdoors when you would typically plant and bring them back in after the leaves fade. They can regrow this way for years.
Pre-Chilled Tulip Bulbs
You can also purchase bulbs that have been chilled for you. These are an excellent option if you missed the cooling period, but you still want to be able to enjoy tulips in your warm-climate garden.
These must be planted immediately after you receive them. As with those that you chill yourself, you can’t allow them to warm up before planting.
Best Hybrids and Species to Select
Want to skip a few steps? There are actually a few tulips that manage just fine in Zone 8, or even 9.
‘Little Beauty’ is a hybrid that will bloom even if you don’t chill it. Tulipa clusiana, or lady tulip, cultivars also do well without a chill.
The following options do require a chill, but they do extremely well when grown this way and might even give you a second year of flowers even if you don’t dig them up and chill them again in advance of the next year.
‘Makeup’ has pure white petals edged in red. ‘Hocus Pocus’ has magical yellow blossoms with pink tips.
‘Queen of the Night’ has nearly black, purplish petals atop 22-inch stems. This option is available at Eden Brothers in quantities of 10, 20, 50, and 100.
Striking ‘Apeldoorn’ features pinkish-red petals edged in apricot.
‘Pink Impression’ is, unsurprisingly, pink, and ‘White Triumphator’ is white. For lemon yellow flowers edged in red, grab ‘Akebono.’
Most Darwin hybrids are adaptable to warmer climates, too.
Or have someone else do the work for you and grab ‘Pink Passion’ pre-chilled bulbs in a pretty pink hue at Walmart.
Some Don’t Like It Hot
Like all plants, tulips evolved to thrive in certain climate conditions, and they simply won’t be happy in anything else.
But if you can trick them into thinking they’re in the type of environment they prefer, you can enjoy these classic flowers even outside of their normal temperature range.
Now that you have the keys to warm weather Tulipa growing, what types will you feature in your garden? What area do you live in?
Share the details in the comments to give your fellow gardeners some ideas that might also work for them.
There are so many tulips on the market. When I first started researching them years ago for my own garden, I ultimately threw up my hands and just picked the ones that had the prettiest pictures on their packages.
But I’m much pickier now and I know that if I want to fill a specific space, I need to find the perfect species.
When I need a tulip that is low-growing and provides long-lasting interest in the form of foliage and flowers, my go-to is Greig’s tulip, or Tulipa greigii.
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If you have dreams of a field of tulips, this one is a perfect option.
It naturalizes readily without becoming invasive. And it’s perfect as a border plant, to add life to a rock garden, or even for display in containers.
Part of what makes this variety fantastic is that the plants can produce up to three flowers per bulb, meaning you get a dense cluster of blossoms with just a few specimens.
If you live in USDA Hardiness Zones 3b to 8a, you can grow these short queens – and this guide will discuss cultivation details.
Here’s what I’ll cover:
The sooner we get started, the sooner we can start enjoying our plants, so let’s dive right in!
What Is Greig’s Tulip?
Greig’s tulips are plants of the Tulipa greigii species. The plants grow to about a foot tall when in bloom in early to mid-spring.
Each single, cup-shaped flower is held on a long stalk, and they’re typically red, salmon, yellow, orange, white, or a combination. A single bulb can produce up to three flower stalks.
The leaves have a gorgeous variegated green and reddish-purple pattern. These are oblong or lanceolate, alternate, and clasping – which means they surround the stem.
And these patterns vary wildly. That’s because they’re caused by a viral infection. If you purchase a plant with a pattern that you love, you can’t count on it being successfully recreated year after year.
These tulips are smaller than the more common hybrids that most people choose for their gardens.
You might picture Holland when you imagine these flowers running wild, but this species is indigenous to Kyrgyzstan in the North and West Tien Shan mountains.
Sadly, they’re endangered in their native home because of overgrazing and livestock traffic, as well as poaching.
Cultivation and History
Greig’s tulip was first identified in Turkestan and sent to Russia, where it was described by botanist and horticulturist Eduard August von Regel in 1877.
The specific epithet is a reference to Samuel Greig, a leader of the Russian navy and president of the Russian Horticultural Society in the 1700s.
This was the first species of tulip to be introduced into commercial cultivation.
Before planting, prepare your soil. These plants do best in loamy, loose soil, or slightly sandy soil.
They won’t do well at all in heavy clay, poorly draining soil. But if you have soil that is too sandy or too dense with clay, either can be remedied by working in lots of well-rotted compost.
Place the bulbs six inches apart and four inches deep. You can cluster them a bit closer if you want, but further spacing helps to highlight the leaves.
The plants can grow up a foot wide and crowding them together will press the leaves together, impeding airflow.
After you’ve had your plants in the ground for a few years, you can divide them.
How to Grow Greig’s Tulips
Plant your bulbs in full sun. They flower best when they have six hours or more of sunlight per day.
The leaves, which are admittedly gorgeous in their own right, will still emerge in shadier situations, but the flowers won’t bloom.
These plants don’t do well once temperatures climb above 70°F, which is why they won’t thrive in Zones 8b and above.
If you want to grow tulips in warmer regions, such as in Zones 8b and 9, look for bulbs that have been cold-treated and treat them as annuals.
The soil needs to be well-draining and rich, ideally with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5.
And again, this isn’t the plant for extremely sandy or heavy clay areas. If you have your heart set on growing Greigii tulips and you have less-than-ideal soil, grow them in containers or raised beds instead.
The soil should be allowed to dry out a bit between watering. If you stick your finger into the soil, it should feel dry halfway down the length of the bulb. If it’s any wetter, don’t supplement with water.
There’s a lot of information out there about how and when to feed tulips.
Most experts agree that it should be done in the fall, and I find my plants do better when I feed them then. That way, the developing bulbs have all the nutrients they need for blooming in spring.
If you’re growing them as annuals, don’t worry about fertilizing. Similarly, don’t feed the bulbs in the first year after planting.
They have all the nutrients they need built right in when you first plant them, and it’s only in the following years that they’ll need a boost.
In the fall, dress the ground above and around the bulbs with a granular food.
Make life easy on yourself and use a food made for bulbs like Jobe’s Organics, which is available at Amazon in four-pound bags.
Growing Tips
Plant in full sun for the best flowering.
Water when the soil has dried to halfway down the bulb.
Feed in the fall after the first year with granular fertilizer.
Pruning and Maintenance
The flowers emerge in early to mid-spring and stick around for a few weeks. Once the flowers fade, go ahead and remove the flower stalks.
Wait until the leaves are fully yellow or brown in the late spring for removal. Gently pull them away from the plant.
If they resist, leave them a bit longer. The leaves provide nutrients to sustain the bulb, so if you cut them off or pull them prematurely, you deprive the bulbs of nutrients.
Greig’s Tulip Cultivars to Select
There are many cultivars out there, and new ones are hitting the market all the time. I’ve yet to run into one that didn’t grow well for me, but here are a few standouts:
Cape Cod
Apricot petals edged in golden yellow pop up on 10-inch-tall stems in early spring, making for a fiery display.
Like all Greig’s tulips, ‘Cape Cod’ naturalizes readily without becoming invasive, so let it take over a bare patch of the garden.
Easter Surprise
Come Easter time, you’ll enjoy these lemon yellow flowers tipped in an ombre of salmon pink and red.
The plants stay under eight inches tall and sports maroon-tinted leaves.
Oratorio
‘Oratorio’ is on the petite side, growing to about six inches tall or so, so these bulbs are perfect as a low border.
They bloom a few weeks earlier than a lot of cultivars, but before the salmon pink blossoms pop up, you get to enjoy the purple-marked foliage.
‘Red Riding Hood’ has striking scarlet blossoms with just a hint of peach on the outside base of the petals.
Inside, the petals are accented in black at the base. And the reddish-purple leaves act as the perfect accent for the bold blossoms.
Zampa
The creamy yellow petals with a watercolor stripe of orange-red down the outer center highlight a border or stun as a mass planting.
‘Zampa’ stays under eight inches tall.
Managing Pests and Disease
I’ve repeatedly heard the claim that because plants in the Tulipa genus contain some toxic compounds, herbivores won’t eat them. Well, someone needs to tell that to the deer and voles in my neck of the woods.
While herbivores are my biggest challenge, pests and disease can also be a problem. Let’s talk about those hungry herbivores first.
Herbivores
Historically, humans have eaten tulip bulbs during times of famine. So it should come as no surprise that herbivores will target them.
Nonetheless, I’m always surprised by how much the squirrels, deer, and mice will go after the bulbs.
Deer
If persimmons are “deer candy,” tulips are “deer veggies.” Ungulates will devour the leaves, flowers, and even the bulbs during times of scarcity.
I once watched a herd of deer moving through my winter garden, and I marveled at their beauty and graceful movement in the snow-filled dormant garden.
But when they started pawing at the ground and pulling up my tulip bulbs – they weren’t so cute then!
Rodents like mice, squirrels, and voles will devour the bulbs, whether they find them in storage or dig them up from the ground.
Voles will find the bulbs while tunneling underground, squirrels will dig them up, and mice will take advantage of shallow bulbs.
Sometimes, I just chalk it up to the cost of gardening when I lose a few bulbs. But if the rodents start to destroy your garden, the best option is to move your plants into containers.
If you can’t stand the thought of potting up these flowers, you can bury wire mesh under and around the bed. Raised beds make the work easier, but you can do this in the ground, too.
Then, bury the bulbs an inch or two deeper than you normally would. This can be enough to discourage tiny squirrel and mouse paws.
Some gardeners report that repellants work. They never have for me, but in the battle against the four-legged marauders, we shouldn’t leave any tools on the shelf.
Insects
There are two main pests that regularly visit Greig’s tulips. Aphids are less common, while slugs and snails are common foes.
Aphids
If you’ve never dealt with aphids before, it’s only a matter of time. They’re extremely common in the garden, though I don’t find them to be particularly common on tulips.
These insects are small and oval shaped, and they use their sucking mouthparts to withdraw the sap from the leaves and stems of the plant. They typically like to cluster in areas where they can hide, like the base of leaves or right under the flower heads.
Slugs and snails will turn the leaves into lace. They can even kill a plant if it’s young enough.
With large, well-established bulbs, slugs and snails can eat the plant to the ground and prevent it from flowering that year, though it might be strong enough to return the following year.
Greig’s tulips are particularly tough when it comes to diseases – except for the virus that gives them their distinct look. When some of my showier hybrids are flailing, they are still going strong.
These plants can contract a few fungal issues, but this typically only happens when plants are stressed or growing in less-than-ideal conditions.
The primary ailment that you might see with tulips is Botrytis blight.
Botrytis Blight
Botrytis blight, also called tulip fire, is a common disease in the garden. Caused by fungi in the Botrytis genus, B. tulipae is a tulip-specific fungus.
The fungus thrives in cool, wet conditions. A nice, long stretch of overcast skies with plenty of rain and humidity over 80 percent is just the thing this pathogen needs.
But even that might not be enough for the disease to spread throughout your garden. It will sometimes wait for a bit of damage to sneak in – hailstorm, pest damage, or mechanical damage leaves the plant exposed.
Symptoms include twisted, distorted leaves, shoots that don’t unfurl, small spots on leaves and petals, and in severe cases, large sunken scabby areas.
As the disease worsens, you’ll see large lesions on the leaves and gray mold might appear on the lower part of the plant and on the bulbs, causing them to rot – whether in storage or underground.
Avoiding this problem starts with buying from reputable sellers who guarantee disease-free bulbs.
Be extremely careful when planting or when lifting the bulbs for storage to avoid damaging them. If you come across a bulb that looks moldy, dispose of it in the garbage, not the compost.
Avoid overwatering and overcrowding your plants to improve air circulation.
While you’re at it, you might just want to pack up and move somewhere dry and sunny during the spring because – and I hate to be the one to tell you this – there is no cure for tulip fire.
There’s no cure and it tends to get worse year after year. But you can limit the spread by removing symptomatic leaves and stems as soon as they start to fade.
You can soak the soil or spray the bulbs with a fungicide, both as a preventative and to slow the spread.
My go-to is Mycostop, which harnesses the power of the beneficial bacteria Streptomyces strain K61.
Greigii tulips can be grown in containers, lawns, rock gardens, and cut flower gardens, naturalized, grouped en masse, or grown as border plants.
The downside of tulips is that they disappear in the summer, leaving bare soil in their place.
During the dormant months, don’t hesitate to plant something over the bulbs. Shallow-rooted annuals like cosmos, petunias, phlox, sweet alyssum, and zinnias make great picks.
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