Tulips are one of the easiest perennial flowers to grow in your garden; even the most inexperienced grower can bury some Tulip bulbs in the fall. They will grow slowly over the winter and sprout with beautiful flowers in early spring. The next thing you know, you will be gardening Tulip.
Tulips are perennial flowers, meaning that they will die off in fall and sprout again in spring. For this to occur, they need to be in an environment with a cold enough winter to trigger dormancy. Tulips are native to the Himalayan Mountains where the summers are hot and the winters are very cold. Therefore, you may need to dig up your tulip bulbs and place them somewhere cold if you live in a warm environment.
Being one of the easiest plants to grow, Tulips have become one of the most popular flowers to grow in gardens. They can be purchased just about anywhere that sells flowers and gardening supplies. Depending on the variety, you can find them in just about any color you desire. Gardening Tulip can be extremely easy if you follow the tips given in this article to best accommodate their needs.
Tulips desire soil with good drainage, allowing air to get to the roots. Make sure that your soil does not hold water, because Tulips are extremely susceptible to fungus and root rot. Add compost and coarse sand to your soil if you find that it retains too much water.
You will want to find a location in full sun when gardening Tulip. If you live in an extremely hot and dry climate, a little shade will not hurt. You should not need to water your Tulips unless you experience abnormal drought. Normal rain amounts will typically provide enough water.
Make sure that you consider the time of year when planting Tulips. You could do everything else perfectly, but planting in February is going to kill your chances. Follow the directions to figure out when to plant the species that you are using.
Plant your Tulips 6 to 8 inches deep, using the base of the bulb as your measuring point. Using a bulb planting tool can help save a significant amount of time if you are planting a large area. Plant the bulbs 3-6 inches apart depending on the size. This will give them plenty of room to grow and expand over time.
When planting your Tulips, make sure you are planting them with the tips facing the sky. They will sprout those tips while the roots will grow from the bottom. Planting them upside down will significantly decrease their chances of survival.
After planting your Tulips, cover them with mulch to combat weeds. Mulch doesn’t allow the weeds to grow, while still allowing the Tulips through. Weeds are ugly and they steal sunlight, water, and nutrients from your Tulips. Unless you want to pick weeds out of your flower bed twice a week, use mulch to keep them from growing.
Tulips will produce more bulbs every year to fill in other areas. Use bulb fertilizer in the fall and early spring to help encourage the growth of these new bulbs. It is also important to avoid watering the Tulips after the blooms have passed to avoid drowning the new bulbs.
To help encourage the plant to focus all its energy on new growth after the flowers have passed, you will want to cut the bloom after it dies. Letting the flower petals drop into the plant can cause fungus to grow, which will kill the plant. Cut the bloom off shortly after it begins to fade to prevent the plant from expending energy on producing seeds. This will save you the most energy possible for developing those new bulbs.
When gardening Tulip, do not remove the Tulips until the leaves turn yellow; this will give you the longest amount of growing time possible to support the new bulbs. Your Tulips will need all the energy they can soak in from the sun to give you the best results.
For some great tips on gardening tulip, check out Tulip Care and Planting Tips.
For those who like to have a taste of spring in the middle of winter, you can grow Tulips indoors all winter. This process is called “forcing”, because you are forcing the Tulip to flower. To be successfully at indoor gardening Tulip, you essentially simulate each season faster than normal. This tricks the bulb into growing and flowering in the middle of winter.
You have to force the bulb out of dormancy by providing a simulated winter. This can be done by placing the Tulip in the fridge or in an unheated shed. Once they have been tricked, you can plant them in a clay pot and place them in a cool area. This area needs to resemble early spring, when the temperatures are perfect for the Tulips to grow roots and start to sprout.
As soon as you notice the Tulips start to sprout, you will need to move them into a room between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Place them somewhere that gets a lot of indirect sunlight and slowly move them into direct sunlight. The perfect example is in a room that gets direct sunlight that has an area that the sun does not reach. Start the plants there and slowly move them closer to the windows to allow them to adjust and encourage them to bloom,
Take all this information and go out there and start growing Tulips. With this arsenal at your side, you should have no problems growing the best Tulip garden on your street.
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