storing tulip bulbs

Can someone tell me how to store tulip bulbs to replant the next year? I have them in pots, and would like to remove them so I can plant something else after the bloom is finished, but still have them viable for next year.

You need to let them grow until their leaves die back naturally, or else they will not bloom again next year. As a number of discussions have been saying, tulips do not reliably rebloom from one year to the next even when they are left in the ground. If you need to remove them from the pots they are in now, you could plant them out directly into the garden, then dig them up when the foliage turns brown. If you can't plant them out in garden soil, your best bet may be buying new bulbs for next year.

Thanks eogrinz - so, if you plant them in the ground until the leaves turn brown, then how do you store them so they don't rot?

You dont store them you cut off the foliage and leave the bulbs in the ground

From Taylor's Guide "Bulbs", "If you can't replant immediately, store the bulbs in a dark, dry, verywell ventilated spot until the proper time for replanting. Spread them out to discourage mold from forming."

Also, were these tulips forced this Spring? If so, it may take a few years for the bulbs to recover enough for reblooming. In which case, I would recommend leaving the old bulbs in the ground and buying new ones to force next year.

I stand corrected! LOL!

You could still leave them in the pots over the summer, let the foliage die back and then replant in the fall.

The point is I want to take them out of the pots, so I can put in something else when the tulips are done blooming.

If you want to save them for next year, you need to have them growing somewhere, either in the ground or in some pot, so that they can finish up their growth cycle for the year and replenish the bulb's energy. So if you have them in special decorative pots now that you want to reuse, you could move them to some plain pots and let them finish up there, or put them in an out of the way garden bed from now until the foliage dies back. Or you can just pitch them and buy new ones next year.

Personally I would pitch them and plant new.

I dont plant hybrid tulips because most dont seem to last long at least around my yard! I plant species tulips instead - they come up early in spring and are not very tall and multiply over the years.

I agree about starting over with fresh bulbs for pots. I stopped growing tulips for a while because they are so much work to plant, and don't come back reliably. But there is nothing like them at this time of the year, so I started trying to find some that reliably come back. I've read that the Darwin hybrids are the best for perennializing, and I'm on year 2 with some of them. Also, I have some amazing peony flowered, or double, tulips, Angelique, Maywonder, a classic pair, and Lilac Perfection. I've had them for about 5 years and they are beautiful each year (and scented!). They are starting to slow down a bit, so I probably need to divide them. I also have the species tulip T batalinii 'Bright gem", and it has also been reliable for about 5 or 6 years. It's really my favorite, I have to get some more for another area or divide the ones I have. I've never divided bulbs, but I have a few groups of daffodils that need it this year, so I'm going to give it a try. I've also read that you can just leave them and the offsets will bring them back, but I'm not sure about this.

Are these pots that you leave out all year? If so -- you could consider leaving the bulbs in the pots -- same as you leave them in the ground, and plant something else in the pots around them -- if you have room and if you can deal with the green leaves of the tulips until they naturally die back.

T
Theresa