Specialty Gardening: Tulips in Containers, 1 by LeawoodGardener

LeawoodGardener wrote:
I have several large pots and urns on my patio and around my garden. Each summer they are filled with tropicals (mandevilla, lantana, brugmansia, etc.), but I like to start the season by forcing tulips, narcissus and daffodils to go in the containers. Since they cannot survive our harsh, zone 5b winters, I fill plastic azalea pots and large, round-bottom pots with potting soil and bulbs in the fall, and sink them in a blank space in my border garden for the winter. Around the first or second week of March I bring them out of the ground and place them in the containers, pot and all. I try to find the largest possible pot that will fit in the container without showing when I top off with mulch.

In previous years I have tried combos of narcissus, daffodils, tulips and hyacinths, but they never seem to all bloom at the same time. This year I just used "Princess Irene" Darwin tulips (one of my favorites - good, strong stems, great color combo (purple with orange flames on petals) and a mid-season bloomer that doesn't get too tall (wind can damage them if they get too tall).

Here's what the containers looked like April 9.