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.