Archive for the ‘Tulips’ Category

Tulip Care – How to Prune Tulips

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.

Flower Picture Pick of the Day

Gardening Tips:

Tips For Plants in Containers:
* Leave at least a few inches of space between plants, although they can be planted closer together than you would plant them in your garden.

* Containers dry out faster than garden soil and may require daily watering during the summer. Check the soil moisture every day or two.

* Potting mix contains fewer nutrients than garden soil. It is recommended to give your container-grown plants a weekly application of balanced, liquid fertilizer during the growing season. Always follow the package instructions.

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.

Dutch Gardens, Inc.

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

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Posted in Spring Flowers, Tulips |

Tulip Care 101 | How To Take Care of Flowering Bulbs

Did you ever wonder how to take care for your flowering bulbs after they wilted? To prepare your bulbs you just have to follow afew simple steps.The tulip blossoming period is beautiful – and swift. Your garden may show blossoms in early, mid or late Spring, from early April to late May, early June. Most tulip flowers bloom for about two weeks before the petals curl up and wither.


Tulip bulbs are time consuming to plant and nurture. Some exotic bulbs are costly. However, tulips can bloom again next year, if you maintain them correctly. You can save extra money in the fall, as well as the time and effort to replant a new tulip garden. If you want to regrow your tulips, the best tulip care practice is to “deadhead” those wilted tulip flowers. Why is this important?

spring flowers-yellow tulip

When the tulip petals fall from the flower, a seed pod is left on the stem. The tulip plant will continue to feed the seed pod by extracting nutrients from the soil. Since the flower won’t bloom again, the seed pod robs the tulip bulb of the energy it needs to regenerate.

When the pod is removed, the plant draws energy from the environment and stores it in the tulip bulb. So, if you remove the seed pod, you give the tulip bulb the chance to renew itself.

Deadheading a tulip flower is easy to do. Simply take a pair of garden shears and snip off the seed pod about one inch below the seed pod on the tulip plant. Once you have removed the flower from the plant, leave the rest of the vegetation alone. Allow the plant dry up and turn brown naturally. Don’t even water the plant. After the leaves turn yellow or brown, prune the vegetation down to the dirt.

If you keep the tulip bulbs underground, they will remain dormant until the fall months. In July, you can dig up the bulbs, shave their roots, and allow them to dry. Place the bulbs in a plastic bag and freeze them until fall planting season. Allow the tulip bulbs to warm up to room temperature and then replant them.

Despite the best care, tulip bulbs do not always grow back again the following year. Many bulbs will re-flower for one-to-two years. However, the tulips will be smaller and have less vibrant colors. Make sure to replenish your garden. Purchase and plant more bulbs in the fall, at a density of five bulbs for every square foot of garden space.

Get the best prices on tulip bulbs by pre-ordering them in late spring and summer when nurseries offer a sale on bulbs. If you want a specific tulip species, you will receive a better chance of getting it, if you pre-order.

Dutch Gardens, Inc.

Many on-line garden centers guarantee your order and hold your shipment until the planting season in September. If you wait to order your bulbs in the fall months, you may pay more and the flowers you want may not be available.

Practice good tulip care and your bulbs will thank you with a beautiful new blooming season. Prune and deadhead your tulip plants at the right time. You can get a jump start on next year’s flower garden.

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Common Tulip Bulbs Diseases

The overwhelming majority of diseases in tulips, as for other living things, are caused by bacteria, fungi and/or viruses. Combating them in the case of tulips, fortunately, is usually not a full-time occupation. Tulips tend to be hardy and disease resistant. There are a few common problems, though, that are worth watching out for.


Many start right at the bulb. Basal Rot, caused by Fusarium oxysporum, is a fungal growth that produces large, dark brown spots on the bulb. The bulb may also have a white or pink fungal growth. Even if the plant grows the flowers become deformed and the foliage will often die prematurely. Management is simple. Just avoid planting bulbs that have a white or pink fungus on them.

Blue Mold is another common disease of tulip bulbs. The disease is caused by the penicillium fungus and bulbs acquire a bluish tinge. The leaves may be reddish, while the roots may be powdery. Try to purchase bulbs that have been pre-treated for fungi. Propiconazole (Brand name: Banner) is useful for protecting plants from invasion.

Botrytis infects many plants, especially bulb types, and tulips are no exception. Botrytis tulipae, in particular (which sometimes goes by the name Blight or Fire), may produce stunted or deformed leaves. Dead spots on the foliage are often surrounded by dark green circles. The spots turn yellow and may have small black spots speckled within them. Buying fungicide-treated bulbs will help avoid that fate.

Treatment with chlorothalonil (Trade name Daconil), mancozeb (Dithane) or iprodione (Chipco) can keep healthy plants healthy. Layering coarse sand above the bulb when planting can also help prevent invasion.

Various types of pythium are another common invader. They produce a type of root rot. The bulbs will have soft gray spots with brown borders near the base. Roots may be slimy. Using chemically treated soil will help avoid the disease in the first place. Unfortunately, once infected, about the only method is to discard diseased plants. That helps keep it away from those not yet exposed.

Crown rot (also known as Southern Blight) is sometimes a problem. Caused by sclerotium rolfsii, it produces yellowed leaves and a fibrous rot on the bulb. Plants are typically stunted and will die prematurely. Fumigating the soil can help remove the condition, but often that will have to be accompanied by discarding the diseased cultivars.

A whole library full of viruses are around that can infect tulips and, being viruses, new ones evolve all the time. Tobacco mosaic and cucumber mosaic are only two out of thousands. At a certain stage, the leaves will become mottled with yellow flecks that can spread into stripes. Petals will become distorted and break off prematurely.

Viruses can be caused by invaders in the soil or spread by aphids. Keeping the insects at bay will help with prevention. Cuttings are another way to inadvertently spread the disease. In most cases, the only effective management is to discard the plant.

Keeping tulips healthy is easier than many other plants. They first evolved in the Central Asian regions where winters are cold, springs bring plentiful rain, and summers are hot and dry. That makes them hardy survivors. But a little help from gardeners is always appreciated.

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Will Tulips Growing Indoors? They will if you force them…

Tulips first evolved in the mountain regions of Central to Western Asia near present-day Turkey and Kazakhstan. That area of the Earth naturally has cold winters, spring that supplies ample rain, followed by long, hot and dry summers. As a result, not surprisingly, those are exactly the conditions in which tulips thrive best.


But recreating those conditions can be difficult. Many places around the U.S. and Europe have similar conditions, but many others do not.

Even the climate of Holland, long associated with tulips, is more maritime than continental and certainly not mountain-like. Summers there can be hot, reaching 86F (30C), but more often the highs peak around 77F (25C).

On the other side winters range between 50F (10C) to 23F (-5C) on average. Good tulip weather, to be sure, but not the same as ancient Persia.

So the question still will be: Can tulips be grown indoors?

Thanks to human ingenuity, we don’t have to rely solely on what nature provides. A greenhouse can control the climate the tulip experiences to a very large degree, and with minimal effort.

Greenhouses range in size from a box about the size of a doghouse to giant glass enclosures larger than many homes. A modest-sized greenhouse that is readily affordable by avid gardeners will be large enough to walk around in and hold dozens of pots.

Tulips, luckily for those gardeners, ‘enjoy’ a pot almost as much as residing in the soil of your backyard. With the proper pot selection and soil preparation, and very moderate care, a potted tulip will grow large and healthy in only a few weeks.

Insect management is also often much easier in a greenhouse/pot scenario. A little malathion spray and many pests can be kept at bay.

Adequate light control is equally easy in a greenhouse. Many offer simple installable kits of louvers, blinds or other mechanisms to ensure that plants don’t receive too much sunlight. Some are even automated so it’s easy to set a timer to open and close them at desired times of the day.

That will rarely be a problem with tulips, though. They thrive in partial to full sun. A minimum of three hours daily is recommended and tulips can readily do well in up to six hours per day. More sunlight than that would be hard to obtain in all but a very few places. When the problem is in the opposite direction – too little sun – lamps can be used to compensate.

Humidity control is also straightforward with a greenhouse. Sometimes simple vents are enough. For more extensive control it’s simple and inexpensive to install a fan to move air in or out of the greenhouse at any needed rate. For increased humidity, a mister system is helpful. But, unlike many orchids for example, tulips prefer conditions to be dryer.

Local moisture levels near the plant can be a little harder to control. A fan will help, but care has to be taken not to cool the plant in summer. They like the heat. A separate section cordoned off from the other plants isn’t too difficult to arrange, though.

If that proves inadequate, having two greenhouses – one for plants that like humidity, others that prefer it dryer – can be a cost effective solution.

Tulips – Potting Guidelines

The tulip’s nature and the specific cultivar dictates the type of pot that should be selected. Some dwarf Darwins will only grow to about six inches. Other Darwins may grow as high as 30 inches. Triumphs range everywhere from ten to 16 inches high. The taller you expect your specific cultivar to be, the deeper pot you want to consider.

That isn’t merely an issue of providing enough room for root growth, though that’s important. It’s also an issue of having a pot that is aesthetically matched and provides sturdy support. A very tall stalk in a very short pot looks unbalanced to the eye. It’s also physically unbalanced and can topple more easily.

The second aspect determining pot size is flower size. Some tulips have relatively small flowers, that open narrowly. Others may reach a ‘wingspan’ of six to eight inches and fully extend their petals almost horizontally.

The larger the flower, the more stress it puts on the stalk, especially if the pot is placed where it is subjected to wind. That stress has to be supported either by the pot or a stake or both. Get a pot wide enough to provide ample support.

If the pot is placed in an area that gets a little windy from time to time, add 10-30% to the size, depending on the peak strength of the wind.

One of the advantages of potted tulips is they can go through a procedure called ‘forcing’. That’s a process of refrigerating the bulbs for a few weeks to a couple of months or more, then warming the soil to fool the plant into thinking it has entered spring after winter.

The specific length of time varies by species. That makes it possible to have lovely tulip flowers even at Christmas. Just select some bulbs at least an inch and a half in diameter and be sure to keep them away from fruit. The ethane given off by ripening fruit damages the developing buds.

Now, on to planting.

Fill the bottom of a pot with holes with a layer of pebbles about one inch deep to ensure good drainage. Then fill the pot about halfway to two-thirds full with a mixture of potting soil and peat moss. Always keep the soil at least an inch below the rim in order to facilitate watering. There’s no need to add any fertilizer at this stage.

Dig holes the size of the bulb into the soil. The soil should be damp but not wet. Then place the bulbs in with the flat side of the tulip bulb facing outward in the pot, this is toward the rim, not the center. The top of the bulb should just sit at the surface.

Keep the whole pot in the refrigerator for about 8-10 weeks at about 40F/4C. Then remove the pot and allow it and the soil to warm up gradually, preferably in stages if it can be arranged. A cold room in the house can be useful here.

Once the soil and pot warm to about 60F/16C for a week or so there should begin to be some visible action.

Depending on tulip type the stalks may pop up anywhere from two weeks to a month later. Flowers will bloom starting anywhere from Late March to late May when planted outside, owing to the different categories (Early, Mid-Season or Late).

But pots can produce flowers at Christmas time if the procedure has been carried out correctly.

Some suggested varieties for forcing are:

Tulips

* Apricot Beauty, Bing Crosby, Edith Eddy, Mirjorma, Yokohama, Jingle Bells, Attila, White Dream, Princess Victoria, White Swallow, Estella Rijnveld

Crocus

* Pickwick, Rembrance, Flower Record, Peter Pan, Purpurea Grandiflora

Hyacinths

* Amethyst, Blue Jacket, Jan Bros, L’Innocence, Pink Pearl, Delft Blue, Hollyhock, Anna Marie, Violet Pearl, Gypsy Queen, Carnegie

Muscari

* Blue Spike, Early Giant

Daffodils and Narcissi

* Barrett Browning, Bridal Crown, Dutch Master, Ice Follies, Paperwhites, Golden Harvest, Spell Binder, Salome, Pink Charm, Flower Record, Louis Armstrong, Unsurpassable, Tete-a-Tete, Jenny, Barrett Browning, Cheerfulness

Others

* Snowdrops, Dutch Irises, Blue Squill, and Glory-of-the-snow

Dutch Gardens, Inc.

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Choosing Tulip Bulbs

Every year we as gardeners have the same question. What kind of flower bulbs do I want; Colorful, fancy, or fragrant tulips do I want to show up the next spring?
Do I want a tulip mixture bag or do I want 10 tulip bulbs of each variety? These days there are so many choices. Time for planting tulip bulbs is between September and late November depending on the Hardiness Zone you are in.

If there’s a tulip flower that isn’t beautiful it would be hard to find. That makes for a wide variety of choices when it comes to picking flower bulbs on the basis of appearance alone.


Solid colors do tend to dominate, though. Tulips are available in everything from pink to peach to yellow, orange, red tulips, purple, along with black and white. Such species as Purple Prince and White Cascade provide clues to the flower’s color.

But there are also a number of stipled, striped or speckled species. So-called Parrot tulips, for example come in solid colors but there are several bi-colored cultivars. Apricot Parrot, Blue Parrot, Black Parrot and White Parrot give you the idea. Saxatilis produces lavender-pink flowers that are yellow at the base.

Color isn’t the only criteria for beauty, though. Flower style provides variety and gives gardeners a chance to mix and match. The image of tulips as a kind of tiny, colored liquor glass-shape is misleading since they come in a number of different shapes.

The previously mentioned Parrot Tulips, for instance, have buds that resemble the bird’s beak, hence their name. The flowers then open wide in the sun until they’re practically flat like a large Narcissus. Chrysanthas are another type that open to form a star-shaped flower. One type, called Tubergen’s Gem, is particularly striking.

Another point is time of blooming. Do I want ‘early birds’ like

Donald Duck Tulips Firespray Monsella Double Early Vanilla Cream

or do I want late tulips like

late tulips 'Hotpants'
Passionale Tulip Sancerre Tulip Snowfire Tulip Hotpants Tulip

A whole class, called Greigii Tulips, produce large, colorful blooms that average six inches across. The outer petals stretch out nearly flat, while a series
of inner ones have a more stereotypical tulip shape.

They also have foliage that is purplish and striped or mottled, demonstrating that it isn’t just the appearance
of the flower that can influence your choice.

Greigii are a good choice for another reason, as well. Tulips are often treated as annuals because they’re hard to get to bloom for more than a year or two.
But Greigii Tulips are long-living and can bloom for several years with only average care.

Cape Cod, Chopin, Red Riding Hood and other delightful names produce equally delightful plants year after year.

At the other side, there are many so-called Species Tulips that create unusually small blossoms that are attractive for that reason. Species Tulips are cultivated wildflowers and they’re very hardy.

Persian Pearl, for example, is a perfect choice for those who want to provide minimal care. They’re also one of the few tulips that can be left in the ground year round and still be expected to bloom the next year.

The desired scent is another possible criteria.

Couleur Cardinal, General de Wet and Yokohama are only a few of the tulip species that have a delightful fragrance. These Single Early tulips are the perfect choice for a rock garden or an indoor pot.

Sylvestris, sometimes known as the Forest Tulip, is another good option. They produce fragrant yellow flowers on stems about six to ten inches tall.

Whichever category or species you choose, whether for ease of care or esthetic preference or both, look for healthy bulbs at least an inch and a half high. Larger species may be up to three to five inches.

Unless bulbs from different species have been accidentally mixed, smaller bulbs in a batch will (in general) not be as healthy. All should be free of any dark spots, too.

A healthy tulip bulb will be surrounded by several layers of dry, brown ‘onion skin’ that protects the bulb. It should be firm to the touch with no soft spots.

Feed your flower bulbs

While each plant is a complete plant factory in itself, with built-in nourishment, it is a good idea to mix a quantity of fertilizer for bulbs and perennials with the loose soil at the bottom of your planting.

This will provide additional food without any danger of “burning”. Never apply fresh or half-rotted manure directly on bulbs and perennials.

As soon as the shoots break through the ground in the spring, repeat the fertilizer application. Do not fertilize spring flowering bulbs after they have started flowering. This tends to encourage the development of bulb rot and sometimes shortens the life of the flowers.

Summer and fall flowering bulbs should be fertilized monthly from shoot emergence until the plants reach full flower. The optimum pH range for bulbs is 6 to 7.

If you don’t know the soil ph, a soil test of the planting area is necessary to determine if lime needs to be applied to adjust the soil pH.

If needed, limestone should be worked into the soil. For good tulip bulbs development, work a bulb and perennials fertilizer into the soil at planting.


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