Potted Tulips
Buy potted tulips in as young a stage as you can find with buds just formed but not even fully emerged. Watching them grow and mature provides weeks of enjoyment. The flowers are just the grand finale!
Potted bulbs can be enjoyed in their plastic or terra cotta nursery pot, but if you want to make them look great, double-pot them. This means to insert the green plastic pot into a swanky designer pot. Fill the empty edges with bark chips and mulch the top with bark chips (if you have some lying around) to top off the display. Otherwise, wrap the pot in an attractive foil wrap to hide the plastic.
The pot you choose has to have a drainage hole and a saucer to collect the excess water (no drainage hole means a shorter life for your swampy bulbs).
I note if you’re double potting (much easier than repotting)– the nice exterior pot doesn’t have to have a drainage hole. You can pour out any excess water. Be aware that some types of “clay” containers weep and if placed on good furniture may leave water stains.
What to Do After Blooming:
What to do with potted tulips after blooming article is right here.
How Do I Make The Flowers Last Longer
The trick is to keep them cool (hot temperatures speed up the growth and flower cycle).
The second trick is to give them full sunlight (although this isn't strictly necessary).
The important one though is to water properly. Here's the video on how to do this for all flowers.
Other Common Questions
My tulip blooms have finished - how do I get them to bloom again (see above article)
My tulip bulbs have finished blooming. How do I keep them until fall so I can plant them outdoors? You plant them outdoors as soon as you can in the spring, after all danger of frost in your region. Don't wait until fall.
My tulip flowers have gone brown - will they flower again? Sorry, only one bloom per tulip per year
My tulip leaves are all brown and withering - what can I do? It's likely you're over or underwatering. Here's a video on how to water all pots and flowers Either that or your bulbs have finished flowering and need to be taken care of as in the article on What do Do After Blooming.
I live in the South - How Do I Get Tulips to Bloom? You use pre-chilled bulbs and you treat them as annuals.
I live in the South and I want to plant my tulips outside and get them to bloom outdoors. See the article here. But unless you can chill those bulbs (14-16 weeks of soil temperatures of 40F) you won't see flowers. Tulips are not Southern plants.
I divided my pot of tulips and the flowers all died - what do I do now? Compost them.
I'm a begining gardener, I don't understand the instructions. Here's the deal (the real deal). If you're a seriously beginner gardener, then let me suggest you enjoy the flowers. Enjoy the potted tulips as a harbinger of spring. Soak up those colors. But then, toss them out when they're finished. As you've seen, getting them to rebloom is a tricky thing and most gardeners don't bother. Compost the pot and plant and pick up another pot next year. Enjoy the blooms - recycle the pot and soil and you're good. Guilt-free. Most of us don't even bother getting them to rebloom every year in pots. Put them in the garden or compost pile.
If you want to ask a question about potted tulips, click here
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