How to Grow Tulips: The Complete Tulip Flower Guide (2024)

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Botanical Name

Tulipa spp.

Plant Type

Flower

Sun Exposure

Full Sun

Part Sun

Bloom Time

Spring

Flower Color

Green

Multicolor

Orange

Pink

Purple

Red

White

Yellow

Hardiness Zone

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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Tulips

Catherine Boeckmann

March 22, 2024

Long live the tulip! These beautiful jewels brightenour daysin spring.We truly look forwardto seeing those blue-green leaves start to emerge as the earth awakens from its winter sleep!Here are our tips on how to grow and care for tulips in yourgarden.

AboutTulips

Tulips typically begin emerging from the ground in late winter or early spring. If unseasonably mild weather causes premature growth in winter,the danger is not as great as it may seem. Tulips (and daffodils, too) are quite cold-tolerant. If freezing winter temperatures return, it may delay growth, however.Snow is actually helpful in this case, as it can insulate the foliage from extremecold.

Plant in the Fall for SpringBlooms!

Tulip bulbs are planted in the autumn, 6 to 8 weeks before the ground freezes. You can have tulips blooming from early to late spring by planting varieties with different bloom times. Some types are good for forcing into bloom indoors, and most are excellent for use as cut flowers,too.

Tulip flowers are usually cup-shaped with three petals and three sepals. Every setting has a tulip, from small “species” tulips in naturalized woodland areas to larger tulips that fit formal garden plantings from beds to borders. The uprightflowers may be single or double and vary in shape from simple cups, bowls, and goblets to more complex forms. Height ranges from 6 inches to 2 feet.One tulip grows on each stem, with two to six broad leaves perplant.

Are Tulips Annualor PerennialBulbs?

Although tulips are technically perennial, many centuries of hybridizing means that the bulb’s ability to return year after year has weakened. Therefore,many gardeners treat them as annuals, planting new bulbs every autumn.The North American climate and soil can’t replicate the ancient Anatolian and southern Russian conditions of their birth. Gardeners in thewestern mountainous regions of the U.S. come closest to this climate and may have more success perennializing theirtulips.

When to PlantTulips

Plant tulip bulbs in the fall, 6 to 8 weeks before a hard, ground-freezingfrost is expected. The bulbs need time to establish themselves. Planting too early leads to disease problems.See localfrost dates.
- A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs when the average nighttime temperatures in your area are in the40s.
- In colder northern climates, plant in September or October. In warmer climates, plant bulbs in December (or evenlater).
- To find the best dates, consult our fall bulb planting chart.
Nature never intended bulbs to loll about above ground, so don’t delay planting the bulbs afterpurchase.
In southern climates with mild winters, plant bulbs in late November or December. The bulbs will need to be chilled in the refrigerator for about 12 weeks before planting.(Bulb suppliers often offer pre-chilled bulbs for sale,too.)
If you miss planting your bulbs at the optimal time, don’t wait for spring or next fall. Bulbs aren’t like seeds. Even if you find an unplanted sack of tulips or daffodils in January or February, plant them and take your chances.See more aboutplanting tulips in winter.

How to PlantTulips

Plant bulbs fairly deep—8 inches deep, or about three times the height of the bulb. Dig a hole deeper than that in order to loosen the soil and allow for drainage. In clay soils, plant 3 to 6 inches deepinstead.
Space bulbs 4 to 6 inchesapart.
Set the bulb in the hole with the pointy end up. Cover with soil and press soilfirmly.
Water bulbs right after planting. Although they can’t bear wet feet, bulbs need water to triggergrowth.
If you’re planning to raise perennial tulips, feed them a balanced fertilizer when you plant them in the fall.Bulbs are their own complete storage system and contain all of the nutrients they need for one year. Use organic material, compost, or a balanced time-release bulbfood.
To deter mice and moles—if they have been a problem—put holly or any other thorny leaves in the planting holes. Some gardeners use kitty litter or crushed gravel.If ravenous voles and rodents are a real problem, you may need to take stronger measures, such as planting bulbs in buried wirecages.
Don’t lose hope if you’re planting your tulips later in the season—just followthese tips.

Growing

If it rains weekly, do not water. However, if there is a dry spell and it does not rain, you should water the bulbs weekly until the groundfreezes.
Rainy summers, irrigation systems, and wet soil are death to tulips. Never deliberately water a bulb bed unless in a drought. Wet soil leads to fungus and disease and can rot bulbs. Add shredded pine bark, sand, or any other rough material to the soilto foster swiftdrainage.
Apply compost annually to provide nutrients needed for futureblooms.
In the spring, when leaves emerge, feed your tulip the samebulb food or bone meal you used at planting time. Waterwell.
Deadhead tulips as soon as they go by, but do not remove theleaves!
Allow the leaves to remain on the plants for about 6 weeks after flowering. The tulips need their foliage to gather energy for next year’s blooms!After the foliage turns yellow and dies back, it can be prunedoff.
Large varieties may need replanting every few years; small types usually multiply and spread on theirown.

Recommended Varieties

Tulip flowers may be single, double, ruffled, fringed, or lily-shaped, depending on thevariety.

‘Cracker’ tulip: purple, pink, and lilac petals; midseasonbloomer
‘Ile de France’: red blooms on stems to 20 inches tall; midseasonbloomer
‘Marilyn’: large, ruffled, candy cane-color flower; late-seasonbloomer
‘Spring Green’: creamy-white petals feathered with green; late-seasonbloomer
‘Renown’: hot pink, egg-shape flower; late-seasonbloomer

Wild, or “species,” tulips are small in size, ranging in height from 3 to 8 inches. They are tougher than hybrids. Rock and herb gardens are ideal places to plant them. They look stunning when planted in largegroupings.

For early to midspring bloom time: Tulipa bakeri, T. batalinii, T. humilis, T. kaufmanniana, T.turkestanica
For later blooming time: T. linifolia, T. neustreuvae, T. sprengeri, T.vvedenskyi
For multicolor varieties: T. biflora, T. greigii ‘Quebec’, T. praestans ‘Fusilier’ and ‘Unicum’, T. tarda, T.turkestanica
For a container: T. kaufmanniana ‘Goudstuk’
For (mottled) foliage: T. greigii (mottled or striped), T. fosteriana ‘Juan’, T. kaufmanniana ‘Heart’sDelight’
For fragrance: T. aucheriana, T. biflora, T. saxatilis, T. sylvestris, T.turkestanica
For warmer regions: Lady tulip (T. clusiana), Candia tulip (T. saxatilis), and Florentine tulip (T. sylvestris) overwinter in the South or mild-winter areas of the West (Zones 8 to 10) without the need of a chillingperiod

There are so many beautiful varieties of tulips. Explore catalogs and experiment in yourgarden!

Harvesting

Cut tulips just before the buds fully open. Leave some of the foliage behind to build up energy in the bulb for the next year’s growth. Recut the stems at an angle before placing them in a vase. Tulips continue to grow after being cut and are “phototropic,” reaching toward the light. Rotate the vase daily to keep stemsupright.

Change the water daily, and tulips will last about 7 days in a vase. To get a long vase life of at least a week, cut stems diagonally and wrap the upper two-thirds of stems (with flowers) in a newspaper funnel. Stand in cool water up to the funnel for 1 to 2 hours, recut stems, and set in freshwater.

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Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

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I received a potted tulip for Easter, it has finished blooming, what do I do before planting in the garden?

HiMary,

Unfortunately potted tulips that are forced to bloom indoors don’t have a high success rate when replanted outdoors. And if they do, it typically takes 2 or 3 years torebloom.

With that being said, if you’d like to try to save your tulip bulb, cut off spent flowers and place your potted tulip in a sunny window and water regularly until the foliage naturally dies back. Tulips gather energy for next year’s blooms through their leaves. Once the foliage has died back, dig up the bulb and store it in a cool, dark location until the fall when you can plant it in thegarden.

Goodluck!

I grew tulips for the first time in my life this year. So I have about zero experience and I was a bit disappointed, when digging up my bulbs, seeing that those were not just divided or multiplied but their size were much smaller (about the third) to the ones I planted. What’s the chance for these smaller new bulbs to bloom next year and what do I supposed to do to get them grow bigger? If it’s possible at all…

HiAna,

Those smaller bulblets, also known as daughter bulbs, form from the original (mother) bulb you planted. Those daughter bulbs will eventually produce flowers that will replace the blooms from the original bulb, which will lose its ability to flower. The smaller bulbs will increase in size thanks to energy reserves it receives from the mother bulb. It may take a couple growing seasons before the bulblets become large enough to flower on its own, but some do flower the next spring. Eventually the daughter bulbs will produce their own bulblets to continue the reproductioncycle.

I am a 5 yr gardener of small vegetable garden & 3 flower gardens & this is my first tulip planting from tulip received from son so your advice is so important & simple & I appreciate all your instructions I seek to succeed as a happy retired woman doing as my mother did but all for the beauty of color & fresh food-thank you so very much Almanac😁💐🌷

We can’t wait to hear about your soon-to-be-growingtulips!

I’ve recently planted 5 tulips in a tub and had a deer come in and eat the tops of 4 out of 5 plants, do they continue to grow or is that it for this year and do I just leave the bulbs in situ ?

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the tulip bulbs would rebloom during the same year. You can remove any remaining flowering stalks, but keep the leaves, if they are still there, as that will allow the plant to make food for the coming winter/spring. Some tulip types may not flower the following year, but others may bloom for severalyears.

In most northern areas, you can keep the bulbs in the ground over winter. (If they are in containers, though, they will need extra protection.) In warm climate areas (Zones 7b to 10), to increase the chance for healthy blooms next year, you may need to dig bulbs up after foliage has browned/died and store for about 10 to 12 weeks in a cool/dark place (such as an unheated garage, or in a bag in the refrigerator crisper away from fruit/veggies, some of which emit ethylene gas that can damage the bulbs/developing flowers [ideally, it’s best to use a separate refrigerator away from food]) to give them a needed period of cold. Alternatively, in mild climates you can treat your tulips as annuals and buy new pre-chilled bulbs for the next plantingseason.

This past season I planted 150 tulip bulbs. They were all so beautiful. Then along came the high winds and lots of rain. I no longer have the flowering plants so can I cut them down to the roots now and leave the bulbs in the ground or do I need to take the bulbs up and replant them next season ?

HiBetty,

Sounds like you had quite the tulipdisplay!

After tulips have bloomed, you want to deadhead the flower blooms, but keep the leaves/foliage and let it die back naturally before removing it. This process can take several weeks. That is how the bulbs gather and store energy for next year’s growing season. You can leave the bulbs in the ground for next season. The only time you need to dig them up is when bulbs are not producing flowers, at which time they can be replaced with new bulbs during the fall plantingtime.

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