Tulips cut too early
by Tanya
(Lubbock, Texs)
My mother always grew tulips (and other bulbs) but I never saw her do anything (ever) with them. I suppose it might have been the climate (North-Central New Mexico). When my husband and I bought our home (West Texas) I was so excited to have a bed full of bulbs. So I invested plenty of time and money and filled my beds with wonderful blends. The fist year was magnificent but when they began to wither, since I didn't know better, I cut the plants to the ground. The following year (this spring) very few bloomed. In fat, when I analyzed which bloomed and which didn't, I realized that it was the early bloomers that re-bloomed, leading me to believe that they must have been further gone by the time I cut them. When I asked my mother why my bulbs weren't blooming, she said I must have cut them too early last year. I went ahead and let everything grow out and as unsightly as it was, I didn't trim until the entire plant was yellow and wilted. I did not garden over them either year besides a few shrubs that remain in the flower bed (and frankly require very little water) and our summers are pretty dry. The soil id awfully red and hard so i have mixed in some OM I think twice before.
So, after all that, my question is: will they ever bloom again? Or is it hopeless and I should dig up and replant new bulbs this fall? I have heard suggestions about "bulb food" but have never found any.
The map in the bulb catalog says I live at the cusp of zones 6 & 7. I hope this is informative enough to help you help me.
I love to garden but admit I'm not well-trained. Would you please guide me in what to do with the bulbs that are in the ground and also tell me, What is best to do each year to have beautiful bulb flowers each spring?
Thanks so much!!!
Doug says that if you let your bulbs grow out to yellowing foliage this year, they should bloom for you next year. This is indeed the key to getting a bulb enough energy to form a flower bud.
The soil is a concern - heavy clay is not the best for bulbs as they tend to like it drier. But as long as the bulbs are producing leaves, you should be fine.
Bulb food - I toss compost on top of them in the fall or after they've finished blooming, whenever I have the time. Or you can water them in with a fish emulsion fertilizer of some kind (or spread any other organic fertilizer in the very early spring).
Bulbs don't need a lot of food but they do better if you provide them with some. So do feed an organic fertilizer - preferably one with a smaller first number on the bag (lower nitrogen) so you don't encourage lots of leaf growth at the expense of flower production.
Good luck with them.
green stem growing and flower dying
by Nickala Lynn Beaman
(cassadaga N.Y)
the tulip has a green stem like thing growing out of it in the middle of the flower and it is making the tulip open up all the way and making it die
Doug says the green stem-like thing is probably the sexual organs of the tulip flower. They sit in the middle of the flower and are visible when the flower opens up a bit. There should be several of them. The tulip tends to open up after a few days (some do it earlier than others) in any case and then they start to fade and die.
This sounds perfectly natural to me.
How low can I deadhead?
by Sam
(Montreal)
Some stems on my tulips are a foot long. I want to plant annuals asap so how low can I snip the head? Can I do it right above the leaves or do I have to snip right under the head?
Also Is it ok to put 6" of soil over the deadheaded tulips to plant annuals right away or should I wait till they turn brown and die down before I put soil over them?
Doug says that you should deadhead as much of the stem as you can - right down into the leaves.
He also points out that covering up the leaves before they go yellow is going to make them very unhappy. So putting 6-inches of soil over top of them isn't a great idea until after they've finished their growth cycle.
Mind you, if you're going to all the trouble of importing 6-inches of soil, you can always get more bulbs next fall.
cutting old tulip foilage
by Christine Oates
(Barriere, BC, Canada)
When can you cut the green tulip foilage after they have bloomed?
Doug says you cut it back when it turns yellow.
can you cut the stalk
by Tanya Reeves-Verdoold
(Thornhill, Ontario Canada)
After the flower has fallen off can you cut the stalk away & just leave the leaves at the base of the plant?
Doug says yes - that's called deadheading spent flowers. And it's a good thing to do to flower garden bulbs (or any dead flowers for that matter)
missed clipping blooms
by Janet
(Fort Mill, SC)
I dsid not clip the deadheads off of my tulips this year. If they come back next year, and I clip off the blooms, could they recover the following year? I am just sick that I may have messed up my tulips, that have now bloomed beautifully for 3 years in a row. This is just a small section. I also have yellow, white, and orange. They just happen to be grouped in colors.
Doug says that clipping off the tulip flowers isn't really necessary. These small species tulips will likely simply self-sow. Don't worry about it at all - if your bulbs don't bloom next year it is NOT because you didn't prune off the dead flowers this year. Hint - you only prune off dead flowers to stop them from setting seed or to make the plants look better. :-)