Tulips, like virtually all flowering plants, will at some point lose their blooms. The petals (called perianths) become brown as they decay. Unlike some flowering plants, however, caring for tulips is simplicity itself.
Often treated like an annual, it’s possible to do nothing at all and simply let nature takes its course. First the flowers will wilt and die, then a few weeks to a couple of months later the leaves will become yellow or brown and also fade. If the gardener has no intention of helping the plant regenerate the following spring no action is needed.
In that case, most tulips will not come back after winter. If they do, they will typically produce flowers that are much smaller and stalks that are shorter and less robust. Even those that do come back for a year or two will usually produce smaller and fewer flowers if nothing is done to assist them.
Some tulip types are more like perennials and will produce blooms year after year for several growing seasons. Species Tulips are a category that are derived from wild tulips. True wild tulips obviously need no help to come back year after year, as they have in the mountainous regions of Central Asia for centuries.
But most tulips have developed after at least some human intervention and have been engineered specifically to emulate the growth patterns of these wild flowers. Greigii Tulips like Cape Cod and Red Riding Hood are two examples. But to reach their full potential there are several steps that should be taken at the right time.
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A day to a few days at most after the flower has wilted, it’s helpful to deadhead them. That can be done either by pinching the tip off with the finger and thumb or by using pruning shears to snip off the ends.
Cut down about an inch from the top. The goal is to remove the seed pod that develops after the bloom has faded. If the seed pod is allowed to grow unhindered it uses starches and energy that would otherwise be conserved by the bulb. Pruned tulips give the bulb the maximum potential for recreating healthy flowers the following spring, since it retains the maximum sugars and energy, with none used to create new seeds.
The same procedure isn’t required for leaves or stalk, however. The decaying tulip leaves don’t leave behind any residual that would consume food or energy that would otherwise be used by the bulb. The stalks will also decay, albeit more slowly. To make the garden look tidy, it’s alright to snip the dead stalk off near the ground.
The tulip then enters a phase in fall when the bulb will regenerate a dense root system. Several types will do this well with no assistance, such as the Greigii’s mentioned above. Dreamboat, Für Elise, Lady Diana, Toronto and many more can continue to re-bloom for several years with proper pruning.
Kaufmanniana or Water Lily Tulips are another long-lived perennial that can last for years. Concerto, Heart’s Delight, Goudstuk and Love Song are only a few of the more popular varieties.
A Must For Spring Gardens – Proper Tulip Care
If you love to see the beautiful tulip flowers in April and May, then tulip care during the growing season in your garden is a major priority for you. You spent good money and poured your time in planting new bulbs in the fall. As spring unfolds, you want to see those yellow, red, white, pink and other tulip flowers. They are saluting you as they wave in the breeze for taking care of them. Review this article to be sure that you take good care of your own tulips.
Tulip flowers are a hardy species, but if you don’t know how to deal with the main challenges, your garden will suffer. Here are the top concerns and issues with tulips before flowering.
Fertilize your tulip plants twice a year. The best time to feed tulips is in the early spring (before they bloom again). The best way to feed them is to add a tablespoon of a granular fertilizer on the soil around each bulb. This should be done before flowering because feeding your tulips after flowering could cause a disease.
Tulips need lots of water. If your garden gets plenty of rainfall nature will take care of the watering. If you live in a very warm area all-year-round make sure to water your tulip garden at least once a week.
Watch out for animal pests, like rabbits and squirrels. Rabbits eat the green shoots and can destroy the tulip plant so that no flowers blossom. Prevent rabbits from eating breakfast in your garden by using a physical fence like chicken wire, a deterrent like cayenne pepper, or non-toxic commercial products like Liquid Fence.
Squirrels can harm the tulip plant by digging and eating tulip bulbs. Protect the bulbs by installing netting over the bulbs when planting them. This will keep squirrels from reaching the bulbs. Once you have planted tulip bulbs, sprinkle blood meal on top of the soil around the tulip shoots. You can also install chicken wire over the top of the garden to protect the small shoots when they emerge.
Voles are another problem. Voles are small rodents that burrow and dig tunnels underground. Voles see tulip bulbs as food and will eat the bulbs, destroying your tulip garden. Unfortunately, there are not very many effective ways to remove voles.
Grubs are insects that are the biggest killer of tulip. If the dirt in your garden has grubs, use some time released insect/or grub killer on the ground around them once or twice a year. Nurseries and home garden centers offer various grub insecticides in granular form that control these pesky insects.
Here is an additional tip:
If you buy potted tulips from a nursery or store, you can plant them outdoors. Remember to plant the tulips as they are in the pot in a sunny location. You will kill the tulips when you separate them from the potting soil.
Tulip care in the spring is not an option. Your garden will thank you and your tulips will salute you whenever the breeze blows.
Dave Pipitone is hopelessly in love with tulips and nourishes them in his Hope Patch. For more information on caring for tulips during the Spring, visit http://www.TulipReview.com
