Shade Gardening: Little project grewwwwwwwwww!, 1 by revclaus

revclaus wrote:
Plant them when the ground is cold. I usually wait till November. They need about 12 weeks to develop their roots. I like to have early tulips, so I plant the species tulips humulis which are the earliest to bloom, and then Kaufmanniana which bloom next, and finally Triumph tulips. If I have late tulips it interferes with my Asiatics which bloom in June, or annuals I want to plant in May.

I don't save the bulbs because I always cut back the foliage to make room for other things, therefore they don't store food. Tulips don't do nearly as well the second year, which is why I treat them as annuals. I just pitch them at the end of the season.

Go to some of the great tulip growers sites, like http://www.johnscheepers.com or http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/. You'll have fun choosing the right tulips and colors.

Here's "Christmas Dream" triumph tulips blooming in April.