Tulips

Can anyone tell me how to keep tulips over the winter?

Shouldn't they be planted? ME is Maine , right? Is it just too cold where you are that they would freeze even in the ground; so you plant in early spring? I have never really heard of wintering them out of the ground.

Yes, it's very cold here and the ground is frozen! Maine isn't to cold for tulips if you can get them into the ground before it freezes.I planted many before freezing, but just found Walmart has a good supply on clearence. I was hoping someone might know a way to winter them over until Spring.

Hooked,

What I would do is plant them in containers of soil and keep them in the refrigerator at about 40F, keeping the soil moist but not soggy. You can then transplant them into the garden when spring arrives, as soon as possible. I tried planting hyacinths in December at my mom's house up in Illinois in December after the ground had frozen, and they did NOT bloom well at all. The reason for planting during fall is to allow them to establish a good root system before spring arrives, so you can simulate this to a degree in the manner I have described. Just be sure not to disturb the root system upon transplanting. Good luck!

Steve

This message was edited Jan 2, 2005 4:17 PM

Thanks Steve, I don't have room to put them in the fridge. I do have an unheated basement. I was hoping someone would say that! I'm off to Walmart first thing in the morning! Thank you both for your help!

Your unheated basement should work just fine. Since it's underground, it probably retains enough heat to prevent freezing hard.

But the unheated basement may not get them to the low temps they need. Don't Southern growers need some bulbs that have been "pre-chilled" in order for them to bloom?

I would think you could put them in pots with EXCELLENT drainage and then put them outdoors on the ground and then mound up with top soil to simulate a raised bed sort of planting. Would that work do you think? I would cover the pots with about 6-8 inches of top soil if possible.

Well, I'll see what happens! I planted 136 tulips and another 30 bulbs in long tubs. Some had already started to sprout, so I don't think I have to worry about that. Keep my fingers crossed ! Thanks for your advice.

If they are not cool enough for long enough, they will only produce leaves and no flowers. Tulips generally need at least 12 weeks below 40 F to flower well.

The tulip flower is already in the bulb.....is there already since October. If they do not get enough cold, they will stay short. Precooling gets done at around 48 degrees F and I am sure that that is about the temp in the basement?

In my experience, bleek is correct. I have had some success with certain Tulips returning for me in TX, and the strange thing was that the ones that returned best were ones in areas where the soil stayed pretty dry. Single Lates as a rule perform best in the South, and Earlies are supposedly the most difficult. Single Late tulips were the ones of that, when they did return, looked the most normal - though that division is not the strongest for perennialization. Ironically nearly all of my double-early Abbas came back (an unlikely group), and a patch of Cream Perfection (Triumphs) nearly all returned and were of normal height. Also had some 'Kingsblood" tulips and "Negritas" that returned, and several Rembrandts. I did not have good luck with Purple Prince though, even the first year...the flowers were of normal size but on about 4" stems LOL.....and I did have them in the refrigerator for a time before planting. They'll still flower, but the stems will often be incredibly short, since the flower for the following year is actually formed in the bulb after blooming. We'll see this coming spring what returns from last year. Tulips seem to be the only bulbs I have trouble with here with regards to lack of cold, so I treat them as annuals.

Don't know about Maine, but I have a thermometer in my basement I've ranged from 61° to 69° since Dec. 23rd. It's an unfinished basement, nothing but cement floors and walls.

We are having a real warm spell,38 outside and I just checked basement and it's 53. I know this warm weather won't last and am hoping they get the cold they need. LOL! Sounds strange me wanting it to get colder. I really hate winter!

LOL, Hooked, we gardeners are a finicky bunch aren't we?

BTW...bleek I meant to say earlier that I didn't know that about the flower already present in the bulb in the fall. You're always full of good info. I really appreciate your presence here on the forums.

I still have some I did not get planted as there was something digging up my bulbs this fall. Other than planting them in pots and putting them outside protected, can I pot them and put them in an unheated greenhouse? Only problem is it will be below freezing at night, and during the day, it warms up into the 35 plus degrees with a average 25 degree outside. Would that force it into early growth being warmish during the day and much colder at night? Or should I just forget the whole thing? If it gets much colder than that, the greenhouse still is a few degrees warmer, but not much.

I would think that would be fine, but I'm really not an expert. Bleek??

Hi, I'm a new member and very new to computers. I read in a book on bulbs for the south that species tulips are supposed to do well here, because they are native to the Mediteranean. Does anybody know anything about these tulips, like where to get some?

Most mail order suppliers are sold out of tulips this time of year. I've read that the following species do well in the South and need no chilling period.

T. clusiana
T. sylvestris
T. saxatilis

A quick Google search shows that Brent and Becky's and John Scheepers come up with some of these species. Both are in the Garden Watchdog.

Thanks for the tulip info. I managed to look up some tulips on the plant search or something like that and there were some suggestions there too. I need to go back there and write down what they were. There were three that tolerate alkaline soil, which is what we have.

Silverfluter - I just realized how new you are to DG! duh.....

A big DG Welcome from Kansas!!!! You found the best 'ole gardening place on earth.

Tulips can not freeze (they commercially are frozen in to be planted at any time of the year)......only thing that could happen to Tulips is when they have made a root system and because of the gound freezing and later thaw out partially and then freezes again, the roots are broken of and that is not good. When planted in the greenhouse and sometimes the temp. is below 32 and during the day above freezing, should be OK.

Specie Tulips naturalize very well, even in the South. Do try to avoid the midday sun though .