Fall is coming!

I used to be a 'dig and toss' gardener who planted new tulips each fall, then dug up the bulbs in the spring, as soon as the blossoms withered, and put the stems, bulbs and spent flowers in the compost pile.

Savvy DG gardener DonnaMack convinced me to start saving my bulbs several years ago, so now I let the tulips bloom, then wait for the plants to wither and die before digging them. I carefully dig the plants, bulbs and all, and place them on flat cardboard sheets in my cool, dark basement for 3-4 weeks to dry. On a rainy day, I go to the basement and spend my morning taking the dirt and dried stems off the bulbs and sort them by size. The larger bulbs will go into a flower bed and the smaller 'bulblets' will go in a blank space in the border, where they will (hopefully) grow larger.

I place the bulbs in plastic crates (the same crates many of them came in originally) or cardboard flats, sorted by color, and store them in the basement until it's time to plant them again in October.

Today that was my 'rainy day' activity for Victor, the guy who helps me in my garden one day a week, and me. We sat and cleaned/sorted tulips for two hours while it drizzled outside. Neither one of us much like doing it, but it's nice to have the bulbs ready to go come October.

Bravo, Leawood! I used to store mine in the garage. I too have dug up my tulips. I love the economies of saving the old bulbs and being able to put my funds into new ones. After all, whether you save them or not, you have to dig them up, and it is fun noting offsets - sometimes one bulb turns into two or three (particularly true with gladiolus and calla bulbs).

I am in a new house now, and although I brought a lot of bulbs with me, not a lot were tulips. So I am going to start this process all over again, knowing that in two or three years I will have many bulbs to harvest.

(I just love people who call me savvy!)

That's a lot of bulbs! Nice to have a friend to help. It makes the time pass more quickly. But I'm not certain the wine would still be there.

LOL!

The cool, dark room in my basement serves as my dormant plant storeroom/wine cellar and storage area for extra patio furniture. The bulbs and my favorite French and Italian wines prefer the same conditions (it does cause the bottles to get dusty, however). In the winter, this area is used to store the dormant banana trees, colocasia and cannas from the garden. Victor and I seldom drink on the job.

I apologize ahead of time if this sounds ignorant but, why would you take the bulbs out of the ground just to plant them again in the fall?

It does NOT sound ignorant! It sounds like an excellent question.

Tulips originate in Turkey. That climate is warm, dry and sandy. They get very little exposure to water.

The main reason tulips do not return is because they get water during their dormant period, which is summer. If you plant tulips where you NEVER water you can get a nice return. But many people plant annuals or other plants where the tulips were, and water them. Hence the poor returns.

But if you dig up the bulbs and dry them out, as Leawood and I do they get absolutely no water. Mine are in the garage on pot saucers. It is important to let them dry out - damp bulbs equal mold.

So we are duplicating the conditions from their native land - where they come back every year. Some of mine actually multiply under these circumstances.

Make sense? The Old House Gardens website talks about this, and so do Brent and Becky Heath in their book. This is from the Old House Garden website:

"GETTING TULIPS TO LIVE FOREVER – Well, almost. Though they have a reputation for being short-lived, we know of tulips that have been blooming beautifully for decades. Here’s how to get the most out of yours.

For a start, you need to be in zone 7 or colder. (Gardeners in warmer zones can grow tulips as annuals, but you’ll need to chill them in the refrigerator for 8 weeks before planting.) Then most important, we’ve learned from experience, is keeping them DRY in SUMMER (as in their native homes). Try this: plant a few where you never water in summer – or near a thirsty shrub or tree – and see how well they return.

Beyond that, the basics include well-drained soil (improve heavy soil, or try raised beds), lots of sun, regular fertilizing, and – this is very important – letting the foliage ripen to yellow to feed the bulbs for next year’s bloom. Some authorities recommend deep planting, especially in the South – to 12 inches – but we say 6-8 inches is plenty.

Then there’s this age-old method: dig them up every summer, store them in a cool dry spot, and replant them in the fall. You’ll end up with more bulbs every year, guaranteed.

Some varieties just last better, too – often Single Earlies, Single Lates, Lily-flowered tulips, and species.

And there’s a good reason why OLD VARIETIES OFTEN PERENNIALIZE BETTER: they were bred for gardens, not for commercial pot-flower and cut-flower uses as most modern tulips have been."

Note from me: I grow lots of lily flowered and single late lilies, as well as species. But doubles do come back well if you dig them up.

LOTS of good info! Thanks, Donna. I learn so much from you all.

Now I know why my tulips have been coming back even though I haven't planted tulips in at least 5 years. My front garden, loaded with all kinds of bulbs is higher than the rest of the property on a very gradual grade that looks flat. The only time it gets watered is from rain, and that drains quite well. Anything else gets watered into the plant specifically, mostly in containers which get moved around.

I seldom lift bulbs except for my lily bulb project with all the tiny bulblets.
Marcia

There you go! You see, your question made perfect sense, since you plant tulips where you have what sound like nicely drained soil, and you do not water.

I'm a container fan too. Way to go!

Donna

Wow, that is really interesting! I never new that. Thanks for the info.

FYI, I was in Costco yesterday, and they already have received some of their shipment of bulbs for fall planting. Lots of outstandingly beautiful tulips as well as lots of lovely anemones, some crocus, narcissus and hyacinths, all bulbs I no longer plant. They had about three different kinds of allium, which I do plant, but I have already ordered from Colorblends in June.

I suspect they will have some fritillaria and a few other specialty bulbs in another shipment if anyone is so inclined.

The front bed is so full of spring bulbs with reticulated iris, muscari, crocus, tulips and allium, I am afraid to dig more, dislodging older bulbs. That garden also has iris, lilies and peonies along with centaurea and monarda. I will be trying the new bulbs in containers and hope that they are happy.

I don't know if you plant fall bulbs before me or after in zone 5a. When everything is going great, I tend to put off planting till it becomes cooler. One year I had surgery planned for October, so I got all the new bulbs in the ground in September and felt sooo good about it. Sometimes I wait till late October and we get an early storm that really messes up the works, like it did last October 29th. (Have you heard of Hurricane Sandy?)

I always think of the Midwest as being considerably warmer than here, but I guess it gets pretty cold in zones 5a and b. Once we get winter storms, with all the trees around, the amount of debris cleanup requires more cleanup than I can provide, and I am stuck waiting for help.

LG, I hope you know I don't drink on the job, either. It just sounds good.

Marcia, I wasn't worried about you drinking on the job! As wonderful as it sounds to have a glass of wine with lunch, I find I get a lot more done if I wait to have a cocktail after I put my tools away n

I usually plant my bulbs between mid-October and mid-November, depending on the weather. I have planted as late as early January, but that can be dicey. You bed sounds spectacular, I hope you'll post pics next spring!

I saw the bulbs at Costco on Saturday, but didn't look so I wouldn't be tempted to add more to my huge purchase online.

That front bed is a small bed and probably not as spectacular to anyone else as it is to me (maybe 100-120 square feet). It gets excellent exposure and good drainage and is in full view of passersby. My tulips are not as abundant as yours, but every bloom is exciting.

I am moving quite a few of my lilies now. The issue with the little guys is that I don't always know where they are, since I intersperse them with other plants, and then the stems disappear! So I am pulling them out stem and all now, and placing them where I want them to be. I am installing new plants this fall, so in some cases I am putting them in compost in pots to await further placement. And this year I am putting chopsticks into the ground near them, so I will know where they are and not dig into them later.

So tired of winter.....looking forward to seeing tulips !

Me too, but the temperature was in the low 70's today - it won't be long beore things in my garden start to sprout. I saw Witch Hazel in bloom at a friend's garden today. It's always the first thing to show in our zone. Before long we'll have forsythia and star magnolia.

You're in 5b; we're in 6b or 7a, and it's still winter here. Tomorrow it promises to be 20 degrees warmer, then it will get colder again. I guess that's March....

I'm in 6a and this is early for us for sprouts! We should be covered in snow. We have the cold, but no snow to keep the plants dormant. Spring is early for us, Usually its only Winter then Summer.

Yeah well haven't you guys had a terrible drought this winter?

Our Hamamelis is looking beautiful now. It just really started flushing out with blooms the last couple days. The fragrance is intoxicating. Crocus has been blooming for the last two weeks but the daffs are just breaching the soil and no sign of tulips yet.

Are these observations applicable to other bulbs also ? Iris, lily etc is what I had in mind.
In Houston, 9A I have left the glads in same place for almost 10 years and then suddenly they just fell apart? Are you folks suggesting that weather does not matter when it comes to picking up bulbs - that picking them up is always the best practise?!!

Jamper, the digging and storing each year is specific to Tulips. Other bulbs are typically only dug to divide crowded plantings, or to store for winter in areas they're not winter hardy.

Definitely specific to tulips. I do the same with glads, because they are not hardy in my zone, but other than those two that's it!

Hi Donna! Neal here, I've been away from DG for several years, good to see posts from a kind name I remember! If I recall correctly, you sent me Lilies, Anastasia and Silk Road, which are still growing strong :-)

Hey Baby!

You sent me myositis in blue and white, and several wonderful hardy geraniums, including biokovo and Karmina. I dug them up and took them with me, and the geraniums have been divided several times! Biokovo is my all time favorite.

I am thrilled that you still have the lilies, and if I know Anastasia, she has brought company. I took those bulbs with me too!

SOOOO good to see you. I have thought of you often. You introduced me to hardy geraniums. I had none! You converted me. I have striatum in white and pink, Bevans' Variety and the species with the lovely pink flowers.

And it's all because you opened my eyes. I must have 50-60 plants. And when I look at them I think of dear Neal.

Don't be a stranger!

Donna

Donna, I'm so happy you've enjoyed the geraniums and they've performed so well for you! Glad you were able to bring a lot of plants with you to the new garden too. Looking forward to seeing pics of your current garden, you've got such a great eye for garden design :-)

Leawood, I recall your glorious annual Tulip display, and great to see you're keeping those Tulips going!

For years I only planted species that were likely to return on their own, but for the last couple of years I've been adding some showy hybrids. Last year quite a few Darwin hybrids, that I didn't dig up, and am watching to see which ones return. This year I planted a lot of late singles from Colorblends, and if they're as awesome as I anticipate, I'll certainly go to the trouble to dig them.

Also tried an early single, 'Flair', that is said to return well. Brent&Becky's catalog says they've been returning for years in the gardens there.

Hey Neal,

I find that single lates (I grow Maureen) actually have a good return. I found this out when I was unable to get them out of the ground and boom! they returned.

Showy hybrids can be fun. I quite willingly dig up multiflowering (Happy Family and Weisse Berliner, which are actually multiflowering Triumphs and bloom simultaneously), lily flowering and double lates.

But putting in some species keeps the labor down nicely.

It's AMAZING how much one learns just reading posts and seldom posting!

I had read about the problem with tulips not returning, but didn't know why or how to keep them going year after year. Once again DonnaMack has provided the reason and a solution! (She's also been an invaluable fount of practical wisdom for my Oriental lilies).

Now, I'm trying to figure out HOW to dig up my tulips Fall 2015, after their first year of blooming I'm thinking it might be best NOT to rush right in, but wait til Fall 2016 to see if my tulips have this problem first, but then if I do. . . .how would I plant NEW tulips, so they could be dug up yearly?

My tulips are in what I call my layered spring bulb section.Tulips (Foxtrot Double Pink and Parrot PinkVision) are planted 10 in. deep; daffodils are 6 in. deep; hyacinths are 4 in. deep and crocus are 2 in. deep.

The only solution *I* can think of is to dig up the ENTIRE area and replant again in the fall. The summer before planting this trial area, I had dried daffodils inside my apartment (I have no basement or outside area protected-from-the-sun): I won't do THAT here again: they smelled and dirt got EVERYWHERE almost all summer long!

Do y'all have any suggestions? Or 'tis best just to wait and see?

Donna, I read a comment in Brent and Becky's catalog that mentioned Maureen is known for repeat blooming. Oddly, it wasn't under the description for Maureen, but rather in the description for it's sport, Double Maureen.

Bet, it's best to dig Tulips in late spring, after the foliage has yellowed, and store them dry till fall when they're replanted. Not sure it would be worth digging an entire planting to retrieve them, but it may work well for future plantings. I wouldn't dig them in the fall, it's likely they have already started rooting by that time.

I'll enjoy the tulip show in Spring 2015 and just HOPE they bloom again the next year (Spring 2016).

If they don't. . . ah, well, live and learn! Spring 2016 and on, will just go on without them.

I'll just have to devote another area to just tulip bulbs...come to think of it, that would be a good way to work in summer-blooming annuals!! I don't have any annuals yet!

Bet, you are too kind. Sometimes I just find out through failure what works (And I don't tell people about those!) I lost many an oriental lily before I truly understood that they require some soil amendment.

I agree with that font of wisdom, Gemini Sage, about digging up tulips in late spring. I actually used to dig them up and put in gladiolus which, as I'll bet you can guess, were bulbs I had planted the previous year, and dug up and put in the garage until it got too cold and then cleaned them and moved them to the house. Glads are cool because when they are ready, they just sprout - the dry bulbs! I just wait until they do this, and then dig up my tulips and put the glads in. That fall, the process reverses itself. With the glads, I allowed self seeded nicotiana alata and verbena bonariensis to come up, and for some additional flair, stuck mirabilis japala seeds in the ground. I don't recommend allowing mirabilis to stay in the ground, because it can produce huge tubers that you can't get out. That's why people actually sell the tubers, which I wonder about because even in my zone a July start produces three foot blooming plants in a couple of months.

Neal, I saw double Maureen. I should probably be buying it, since I purchase the white double Mt. Tacoma, and it does not hold up as well as Maureen (is she on her fifth year?). Mind you, I only discovered her strength because I could not get her out of the ground and had to leave her in, only to be stunned by her stature the next year. There appeared to be no deterioration.

So many beautiful things for all of our gardens, regardless of zone!