tulip are bulb heyday that brighten spring gardens with a rainbow of pastel to bold hues .

Some , like non - hybridized botanical species and Darwin and Emperor hybrids , come up faithfully class after class .

Other crop varieties perform better as annuals because they are bred to make a grand show the first class and do n’t always return with equal vigor .

A close up horizontal image of yellow and white tulips growing in the garden pictured on a soft focus background.

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Suited to USDA Hardiness zone 3 to 7 , tulip thrive in full Sunday with medium , well - draining dirt .

In these zona , bulbs enrol dormancy at season ’s final stage and blossom again the following give , unless they succumb to the following :

A close up vertical image of pink tulips growing in the spring garden, fading to soft focus in the background. To the top and bottom of the frame is green and white printed text.

During the winter calendar month , when intellectual nourishment is scarce , burrowingrodents may feed on incandescent lamp , entirely consuming them or impart them irreparably damage .

And although bulbs can withstand wintertime ’s chill , when the ground freezes and thaws , they can heave up out of the ground and die from exposure to cold , moisture , and wind .

In addition , bulbs may rot from pool snowmelt , and ill drained moisture in the summertime garden .

A close up vertical image of pink tulips growing in the spring garden, fading to soft focus in the background. To the top and bottom of the frame is green and white printed text.

invalidate these perils is one way to give your tulip a brain go on a beautiful encore performance .

In ourguides to selecting , growing , and caring for tulips , you’ll find all you need to lie with to cultivate these iconic springiness flowers in your outdoor living space .

This article discusses the summons of lifting , cure , and storing lightbulb to obviate the potential pitfalls of off - season time underground . It is an optional look of tulip maintenance .

A close up horizontal image of spent tulip flowers in the spring garden.

Here ’s what we ’ll cover :

What You’ll Learn

lease ’s get quick to plagiarise !

Deadheading Spent Blooms

When flower eat up blossom , begin to slicing , and drop petal , it’stime to deadheador remove total bloom - bearing stem .

habituate neat lopper to lop the root near their breaker point of origin without damage the hem in foliage . Angle the cuts downwards to alleviate water runoff .

By remove these finished stems , you foreclose the setting of seminal fluid pods and redirect energy back to the electric-light bulb where it is store for next year ’s flowers .

A close up vertical image of a gardener digging up tulip bulbs for curing and storage.

When to Lift

Post - flower , the foliage stay lush and green . Please resist the temptation to bring down them down and square away up the garden .

The foliation is necessary for photosynthesis and contribute to the stored energy needed for a repetition efflorescence next spring .

When summertime lead off to heat up , the leaves rick yellow and then chocolate-brown . Once there ’s no more green , it ’s sentence to lift or moil up the bulbs .

A close up horizontal image of plastic containers filled with tulip bulbs for storage.

Here ’s how :

utilize a pointed - tip garden shovel to dig down eight to 10 inches around case-by-case bulbs or clumps .

Work your way around and beneath them before gently unearthing them . Do your good to avoid snap the protective papery sheaths .

A close up vertical image of a mesh bag filled with tulip bulbs for storage, set on a white wooden surface.

Once lift , discard blemished , brittle , discolored , malodorous , or soft ones . Use sporting pruning shears to absent the remaining foliage and roots , and brush off the excess soil .

If you have conjoined bulb , you could separate them at this time . The next step is curing .

How to Cure

Once lifted , prune , brushed unobjectionable , and divide as desired , it ’s fourth dimension to permit the bulbs cure , a simple process of pass around them out in a individual stratum to dry altogether before storage .

you could employ ventilated charge card bins or box seat lined with paper to immerse superfluous moisture . Place the containers in a well - ventilated , juiceless location away from direct sunshine .

Over the next two to three days , excess wet will melt . If the conditions is exceptionally wet , allow additional time to dry out before storing .

Off-Season Storage

Once dry , salt away the medulla in mesh produce dish . Insert bits of newspaper between them to prevent touching and suppress moisture buildup .

Tag the bags to identify the content and set aside them from hook in a nerveless root cellar , garage , or shed with dim light and small humidity .

The temperature should dip to 40 to 50 ° F for at least 12 weeks to mimic wintertime ’s shiver and induce saltation blossoming .

You may take about storing bulb in the icebox , but the ever - present moisture and ethylene gasses produced by some fruits and vegetable make this a piteous pick potential to result in rot .

Pampered and Peril-Free

With the odds stack against a vigorous comeback , many gardeners pilfer bulbs at season ’s final stage to store them out of the terra firma for the off - season .

Non - hybridized botanic specie , and hybrids like Darwin and Emperor , are the most likely to come back for a star encore presentation . However , due to rodent forage , Robert Lee Frost heaving , and oversaturation risks , even the most robust varieties are not immune to off - season jeopardy .

It ’s metre to take out yourgarden plannerand observe the pursual :

Deadhead efflorescence as require in the give .

Monitor the foliage in other summertime and lift when the leaves are no longer green .

Cure and store in a cool , dark , teetotal location with at least 12 hebdomad of 40 to 50ºF temperatures .

And lastly , as winter change state to spring , replant as presently as the thawed ground permits .

mollycoddle your tulip with lifting , cure , and store to avoid the pitfalls of off - season clock time underground , and delight their iconic bloom every leaping .

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Nan Schiller