Planting Potted Tulips in Louisiana

I received potted tulips and am wondering when I should put them out in the yard here in central Louisiana (temps range from 25 in January to 100 in July). Do I have to dig them up in the fall? Thank you. Della

Doug says that he really hates to be the one to tell you but you really can't grow tulips properly in the South. They require 14-16 weeks of really cold weather to form a flower bud. You don't get enough cold weather (even though Southerners think that 50F is cold) you're going to require 14-16 weeks of 35F to get those buds/flowers to form.

Enjoy them. Compost them.

Tulips in Alabama

by Glenna Pollard
(Gadsden Alabama)

I have 2 potted tulips already in bloom(given to me) How do I care for them now and can I transplant them come spring?

Doug says that you have a problem in that Alabama isn't going to have cold enough weather to get those bulbs to rebloom. You need 14-16 weeks of 35-40F weather (soil temperatures) to make those tulip bulbs form buds. So you care for them like this article suggests and then you compost them.

Growing Tulips in Singapore

by Cindy
(Singapore)

I love tulips. I know this is going difficult to sustain the tulips in Singapore. I bought a pot of imported tulips from Netherlands in Singapore on 22 Jan 2009. Is a way of maintaining/grow the healthy tulips in such hot humid country in Singapore all year round (outdoors (29 Degrees C to 34 degrees C).

So I have placed my tulips in the air conditioned bedroom (25 degrees Celsius) and some ice-cubes. Somehow the tulips still look hydrated.

Please help...

Doug says you're trying to grow the wrong plant. You just aren't going to be able to grow this plant in a tropical area such as Singapore. Enjoy the blooms you have left (and keep the ice cubes away from it). Sorry.

Tulips in Zone 8

by Carol Miller
(Mt. Pleasant, SC)

I've dug up my tulips and let them dry out with the foliage attached. Now that that's turned brown, I've cut the foliage off. How can I store these bulbs until next fall/winter? Our ground in Coastal South Carolina never freezes. I know I need to store the bulbs in a cool place, but there are no cool places in the summer in this area. We don't have basements. The only place to store the bulbs where it's really cool is in the refrigerator. Can I store them there for several months until planting time again?

Doug says 1) I don't do Southern gardening and trying to force bulbs from one year to the next. I garden in Canada so this isn't a problem.

You don't cool the bulb during the summer to create a bud. You leave it drying.

You want to have the bulb planted in soil so it will form roots and flower buds for 6 weeks or so and then a further 16 weeks before it blooms you need to keep it cold. So it goes into the frig 16 weeks before you want to see it blossom.

Or you can try to keep it in a high humidity, refrigerator for the 16 weeks before you plant outside (without soil) and hope that it will kick into bloom again when you put it into the ground.

Frankly, I'm no expert on commercial cooling and the requirements for success (which is what you're trying to do) In my garden, there is no room for a plant that requires this much work; I prefer to grow plants that will live and perform in my garden zone. Yes, I do try to cheat a bit here and there with mulch etc but going to that much trouble isn't something I'd ever do for any bulb. Instead, I'd work with what grows naturally or easily for me.