"Autumn is a season followed immediately by the looking forward to spring."
Doug Larson, American columnist and editor
OK, I know there are lots of skiers and "snow-white Christmas-ers" out there, but I'm talking about the garden and nothing says spring more than tulips and other early flowering bulbs. And nothing helps me through the long winter months as much as the anticipation of a riot of bright colored tulips punctuating the spring borders.
Now is the perfect time to plant tulips and spring blooming bulbs. Technically, you can plant any time until the ground freezes (in mid to late November) but the earlier the better starting late September right the way through October. The soil needs to be cool - about 55 degrees. Planting earlier in autumn will allow a long lead time when the bulb will develop roots. Doing this causes a chemical change in the bulb which actually helps it to survive the cold weather.
Native to the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, Greece, the Balkans and Turkey, Tulips are no strangers to harsh weather extremes. Most often found growing on exposed mountain and highland sites they like to be sun baked and dry in the summer and cold in the winter. |
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Bulbs should be planted 3 times their height. For example, a tulip is approximately 2 inches tall - plant in a hole at least 6 inches deep. As a general rule, bulbs should be planted pointy side up.
Photos: Left, the basal plate where the roots will form. Right, pointy side up! |
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Tulips for every garden. 4 Ways:
1. Clumps: This is the easiest and quickest way to plant tulips. It is also very natural looking. Nature doesn't plant in rows or with equal spacing. To plant in a clump, dig a large hole with a spade 6-8 inches deep and plant 7-12 tulips in the same hole. Too few and you can easily count how many tulips are in a group and too many will start to look congested. 7-12 will give you a nice natural looking clump. The bulbs can be planted close together- just not touching. I would suggest at least 3-5 clumps in the garden, more the larger the area you are planting. |
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| Left, tulip bulbs in a clump planting. Right, spring time blooming in a clump. |
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| 2. Dotting. This planting method will cover a greater area in the garden with fewer bulbs. To plant use a hand trowel or a bulb planter to dig the hole. One bulb per hole. This planting scheme looks best when it is under planted with early annual flowers such as Pansies and Wallflowers, or when the tulips come up around emerging perennial plants. |
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| Left, individually planted bulbs, with a bulb planter. Right, a dot planting in full bloom. |
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| 3. Cutting garden. If space allows in your garden and you love to have tulips as cut flowers, consider planting them in a trench (similar to clump planting) Here the bulbs are planted in rows and fairly close together, 2-3 inch spacing, with the idea that the flowers will be harvested for enjoying indoors. Dig a trench with a spade 6-8 inches deep and the length you need to plant your tulips in a row. When you cut your tulips to enjoy indoors, cut the flower stem as low as you can reach. Leave as much foliage on the plant as possible to rejuvenate for the following year. |
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 | | Tulips planted in a row destined to be cut for vase arrangements. |
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| 4. Potted. This last method is perhaps the trickiest, but is certainly a great way to enjoy the blooming tulips in the spring. Using a shallow but wide diameter plastic pot (often sold under the name of "bulb pan") place potting soil in the bottom of the pot. Plant tulip bulbs much in the same way as a clump, close together, but not touching. Cover the bulbs with potting soil. Then submerge the entire pot into a hole 8 inches deep. Cover with soil and mulch heavily with leaf bags or a pile of leaves. Once you start to see new growth and tulips coming up through the soil in other areas of the garden next spring, dig up the potted tulips, slip the entire pot into a decorative or terra cotta pot and place near your front door or any where you would like an extra pop of color. A quick tip: when submerging the pots in the ground mark one edge of the pot with a stake so that you know where to dig in the spring and can avoid damaging the tulips which will be growing underground even if you can't see the tips above soil level. |
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| Left, Bulbs planted in a bulb pan. Right, several pots partially buried in a trench. The stakes mark the outside edges so it's easy to know where to dig in the spring. |
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 | Above: In the spring, the entire blooming tulip pot is slipped into a decorative terra cotta pot. The tulip display can then be placed any where in your garden
for an instant pop of color. |
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| All four of these methods are tried and true over more than two decades of gardening and all the photos are from previous spring seasons in my garden. Email me with any questions! jenn@fleurdelouise.com |
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A quick note about purchasing bulbs. In addition to Tulips, I typically also plant daffodils, snowdrops and crocus. All of which can be planted using the same methods as above, just not as deep as the tulips. Remember the 3 times the height rule.
I like to purchase bulbs from John Scheepers or Van Englen. Both of which are online. I like these sources for the variety available and for the quality of bulb. These are by far the most reliable, largest and healthiest bulbs I have ever sourced. The two companies above are actually sister companies and Van Englen is considered wholesale. While you do not need a wholesale account, you do need to purchase in quantity from Van Englen.
If you buy locally I would highly recommend purchasing from a garden center. The bulbs purchased there will be sourced from reputable bulb growers and are more likely to be properly stored on the sales floor.
Big box stores are OK- the prices are likely to be the best. Just make sure that you are checking the bulbs you purchase. You want firm, plump bulbs. Nothing dried out and brittle, or the opposite, moldy. |
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 | | Happy planting! And happy spring! |
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| "One of the few infallible rules of gardening is that no garden can have too many bulbs. Splurge. It is the only way." Anna Pavord, author of The Tulip: The Story of the Flower That Has Made Men Mad |
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