tulip planting?

Ok Ive been going thru a book from the library and one of the things it had was on tulips...it said to plant them 6 inches deep and if you have sandy soil you should plant them even deeper. Is this right? How deep do you guys plant your tulips and does it affect the blooming?

most of mine i try to plant 3X's the size of the bulb.
I Lost alot of the ones i panted deep-i don know if it was last yrs terrible winter or that i had them to deep,so this yr it was 3xs everyting! ;)

Thank you notmartha, that makes alot more sense than 6inches. I just dont see how that depth can be best. I think Ill go with your when I go to plant these that I have. I bought these on clearance about a week ago and Im debating on putting them in the ground today. The dirt is still very soft, I know this because I went serching for glad cormels and I made my worms very angry with me for disturbing them. And yes they are my worms, when I moved in here almost 3 years ago and I started digging I think I was lucky to find one worm and now they are everywhere. Makes me very very happy to see them too. : )

A Tulip size 12/+ is about 2 inches tall, so 3 x that makes a hole about 6 inches. Here in the South we make a hole about 8 inches deep....try to keep them a little cool.

DUH I cant believe I wasnt thinking about that. Ok. I think my blonding moment is over now. LOL let me go out and dig these alittle deeper than 6 inches since I have sandy soil too.
Thanks guys,
Janet

Okay, let me play Devil's advocate here. What difference does it make how deep they're planted as long as they're covered in soil? You're just going to yank them up after the blooms fade anyway. Or, do you guys know of tulips that bloom a second year?

I plant mine a trowels length deep which I suppose is 6 inches. Everyone I know, including me, has Tulips that come back every year without fail.

Mark, I'm so jealous! All I ever get the second year is just the foliage. The master gardeners here (Atlanta, GA) even say to treat tulips as annuals.

I leave my tulips in the ground too. I usually rotate bulbs about every three years. I plant mine with the basic round bulb planting gizmo and that's that. Tulips are DD's love, not mine, so I suspect they get planted at varying levels. They all seem to come up though.

you guys have got to move away from the big, blousey tulips and start growing the species and their cultivars like this.

This is Tulipa pulchella 'Little Princess'

and the white form Tulipa puchella 'Albo Caerulea'

dddrrrooollll. Woops excuse me while I wipe my mouth on my sleeve.
alright Mark you have just made me go thru my drooling quota for the month. LOL Those are beautiful. Ive planted tulips before and theyve come back up, but Im wondering if maybe I planted them kinda shallow so they actualy got more of a cold spell. Is that what they need?

My tulips come back every year. But I am from zone 5b - much more like Holland. I never dig mine up.

I usually plant my tulips about 6 inches deep, no matter what soil they are in, and they work out fine.

I planted LOTS of them this last fall, and am so anxious for Spring to see them I'm going NUTS! (I bought some really cool, multi-colored/pointy ones too).

Oh yeah, one more thing. I'm jealous because of some of the plants you guys get to plant down there in the south that won't survive up here! I guess that evens us out. lol! :)

remember all this bull about winter cold for spring bulbs isnt that accurate. Our average winter temp is +5C/40F

maybe on this thread, out of interest, I should keep a daily log of our maximum temp each day for a week or two.

since Sunday we have had a low of 1C/32F and a high of 12C/50F

Mark, I have those 'albo caerulea' species tulips and they are absolutely wonderful. I was really thrilled with them last spring and looking forward to 2004 so I can see them again.

there are many other cultivars within the humilis and pulchella group. I have
Tulipa humilis ‘Eastern Star’
Tulipa humilis ‘Liliput’
Tulipa humilis ‘Little Beauty’
Tulipa humilis ‘Odalisque’
Tulipa humilis ‘Persian Pearl’
Tulipa pulchella 'Violacea'

Tulipa humilis ‘Odalisque’ is stunning http://www.thealpinegarden.com/tuhumodel.jpg

Oh my Mark, you werent kidding, stunning is the word. Today we are averaging around 50 just like yesterday. Unbaleivable this time of year, usually in the low 30s to high 20s(F). Im not complaining tho. I started a bunch of seeds yesterday, was planning on it a little later but Ive been babysitting and wanted to give her something to do. Everyone but the dogs got into planting seeds. So much fun and Crystal was having a blast being able to pick out whatever she wanted and knowing it was hers to take home. Im going to have to look into those tulips Mark and see if I can find some around here before I go for mailorder. I just dont have patience for mailorder. LOL

Dravencat it will be next year before you see the bulbs again.

The only thing I do not seem to have any success with here is hyacinths. I do not know if it is lack of cold or if the soil id wrong or what. I cant even get them to grow properly in pots.

Mark that is indeed a stuning flower. I will put it in my things to look for list. I got my pulchella bulbs at a 99cent store of all places. I am waiting to see how they do.

make sure you get your nose in close when they flower. They have a lovelt scent

Call me old fashioned I like regular large tulips blowing in the spring breeze.I cut a couple dozen at a time for the house. Ernie

Mark, I kinda figured but had to give myself a mental note to look for them. Thanks for the reminder I ususally need them.

you can buy some here next year http://www.bulbmeister.com/

I always get 2-3 years out of my Tulips. I dont dig them up , I just rubberband the leaves together down low to hide them when they are finished blooming and eventually cut them off. If you cut the folage too soon they sometimes wont bloom again.

Now, a question. I still have some Tulip bulbs I havent planted..long story. They are in the fridge to keep them cool. Has anyone had any luck potting them? And if i do should I do it now and set the pots outside for the winter or wait till spring to pot them? Any help would be appreciated.

putting a rubber band around bulb leaves will stop a plant getting vital sun for building the following years flower ..as does tying Narcissus leaves in knots

I only tie them when the leaves start turning brown. I leave them alone while they are green which has always worked for me. Any ideas on the potting? Thanks

You can plant them in pots as long as they are large pots like a whiskey barrel type container. Anything smaller is harder to keep moist and temperatures may get too warm.

Better is to just plant them now, or very soon, in the garden. Plant them in a place that does not get sun all day and plant them about 4-5 inches deep.

Thanks bleek! I guess I will plant most of them in the ground and maybe try I large pot and be surprised come spring!