What to do with bulbs?

Hello gardeners, I am very very new to gardening and am moving and plan on taking many of the bulb plants here down to my new home. So for a while they will be in a pot. I have a pot already of tulips that my husband gave me for valentines and I will be digging up daffodils, iris's, and crocus. When they die out in the pot (which my tulips are already) should I take the bulb out and store it? And if so, how should I store it? Or should I leave it in the pot and continue watering it?

Thanks so much for the input, like I said I do not have a clue about anything

Hi Luluguid, most of these bulbs like a dry summer rest, crocus like to be in a place that dries out in summer, although some normal rain doesn't harm them. the crocus you could lift and store or just leave them dryish in the pots once they have gone dormant, until autumn then plant them.

Daffodils that are grown in pots can be lifted when the foliage dies back, the bulb needs the food from the leaves to build it up. If they are in pots then you could leave them there not too wet until the autumn, when the normal rain would wet them sufficiently to bring them into growth over winter. Or you could then plant them in the ground, whichever you wish to do, this can be done any time from September as a rule until November. I have some in tubs I keep under a tree and don't pay any attention to watering them over the summer.

Tulips also like to be kept dry over summer, I'm not certain your tulips will recover after having been forced, but you could try planting them in the autumn if they look OK. They can be lifted and stored, I would leave mine in a warm, dry shed (beware mice like them!). Species tulips are the dwarf ones that often naturalise and can be then left in the ground, the taller ones can take a few years to come back, depending on the type, and conditions. I have some tall late single red and yellow tulips that flower every year reliably.

Iris should really be left growing but like sun and the rhizome needs to be a little exposed to ripen, the time to move them is normally late summer, unless you have the bulbous Dutch iris types.

I hope this helps a little, someone else may have some ideas but these are quite general.

thank you wallaby

You're welcome!