Freezing causing rotting tulips? Tulip pro needed:

A lot of my tulips rotted this year. We were hit by a very late freeze when they were in bloom. Do you think that had anything to do with it? Or did I just dig them too early and too wet, out of fear that they would rot if I didn't get them out of the ground asap? Anyone that is a tulip pro out there?

The late freeze will not harm the tulip bulb only what is above ground if it freezes hard. If just a light frodt, they may hang their head, but will survive.

The bulbs were rotten....did you dig them while they were blooming or just right after blooming. If so, then what you saw was the old bulb being used up to grow another bulb inside. If that is the case, then you have a very imature bulb, most likely not worth saving. The old bulb is making a new bulb inside the old one and will grow much quicker after flowering until the leaves are dead and then the bulb is mature.

One side note......tulips can not be destroyed by frost......they might suffocate when drainage is poor and they are submerged in very wet soil with no air.

Hmmmm.....that's interesting. I dug them up before the tops had totally died down. But I have never seen tulips that looked so strange - they were kind of grey and squeezy - some had white stuff that gushed or weeped out of the top... Now you've got me curious, I'll have to dig up some more early next year and see what they look like...Thanks for the info!

Did they flower first? What variety was it?

Yes they flowered beautifully. They were gorgeous, huge "Cream Jewel" and I had bought 60 of them. But I had to plant them in a low soggy spot because I didn't have anything else available last fall. I was hoping to dig them up and replant to a better spot this year, to enjoy for years to come.

I think that they rotted. Tulips need moisture but they do not want to sit in it. They want good drainage.
cynthia