Tulips & Hyacinths

I picked up several of each of these at a trade show last week. They had been forced to bloom. (They came from Apopka Fla, not exactly tulip country) Anyway, I have really enjoyed the beauty of them in the garden (potted) and in the vases.

I've been watching the bulb talk some, and it seems bulbs will rebloom next year. If this is true how can I preserve these bulbs and send them to my sister in Michigan for her spring garden? (As much as I enjoyed them this year, I really don't want to store bulbs in my fridge.)
:^) Molly

Hey Molly, Ive bought forced bulbs before, they dont seem to do as well when they bloom the next year but I always thought they just needed time to regroup. This year Ill finally be in one place long enough to see them come up the second year. Someone said the tulips are only good for one blooming season but I never got the tulips before till this year so dont know what to tell you. I also gave a bit of fertilizer too so hoping that helps.

When they've finished flowering, keep them potted (or plant them in the garden) and wait until the leaves die back naturally, as Dravencat says, give them a feed when they've finished flowering. Lift them in Spetember/October to send on.

Again Dravencat is right that forced bulbs don't flower too well the next year, give them a chance and the year after that they should be fine. We've got Hyacinths in the garden from years ago, they are reverting to type now but they are reliable spring bloomers after that initial little extra care.

OMG I got something right. woohoo. Thanks Baa you made my day. LOL I was sure someone would come in and say "girl you are so wrong" LOL. I was just going by personal experience on most of it. I even have some more hyacinths that I bought for .50 about a week ago that will be going in the ground come spring. I just have to figure out where Im going to put them. Theres 3 bulbs in that pot and should be white.

It's rare that our zone 9+ winters get cold enough to chill tulips & hyacinths so that they will return. Of course, saying that, I also have to admit that to my great surprise, the few parrot tulips I planted last year, fully expecting them to bloom once then disappear forever, are starting to push up new leaves! But it has been a pretty cold winter for us in the San Francisco Bay Area; I have lost several plants this year to frost damage.

You can put them in the ground, but it will be up to Mother Nature as to whether they'll get enough chill days to come back for you without refrigeration.

tulips need at least 6 weeks of cold also to bloom well. any where there isnt freezing tulips dont do good. alot of people keep them in the refigerator or even freeze them.

i gave up on tulips a long time ago due to not having the cold to make them bloom.

Tulips will do fine in the South if you stick to the Specie Tulips, like Chrysantha, Lilac Wonder, Saxatilis and Dasystemon Tarda.