Tulips are one of the most beautiful flowers in the garden, oftentimes they are the first ones to bloom giving the garden a well-needed splash of color. There are hundreds if not thousands of different tulip varieties, one more beautiful than the other. As beautiful as the tulip flowers are, they do not last that long, and a lot of cultivars are trying to extend their blooming period but they are really fighting the nature of the plant.
After your tulips have finished blooming, it’s important to follow a few steps to encourage re-flowering. Start by removing the seed heads once the blooms have faded. This prevents the plant from using energy to produce seeds. Allow the foliage to naturally wither and die back, as this allows nutrients to return to the bulbs. After about six weeks, carefully dig up the bulbs. Discard any bulbs that are damaged or diseased, and set aside the healthy bulbs to dry. Once dry, you can store them and replant them in the next growing season to enjoy another beautiful display of tulip blooms.
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A lot of beginner gardeners simply cut back the tulips after they bloom, this is a big mistake, and oftentimes it is the main reason why the tulips don’t come back the next year. With some careful planning, you can actually help out the tulips this year, so they bloom even better next year. The main goal of tulips is to reproduce, this is why they create their beautiful flowers, which when pollinated turn into seeds.
If the tulip doesn’t get the proper vitamins, minerals from the soil, and enough sunlight then it will struggle to bloom for several years. It is extremely important how you take care of your tulips after they bloom, do it incorrectly and you might not see it bloom for several years. If you want to grow Oxalis Iron Cross with your tulips then check out my recent article Oxalis Iron Cross ( Good Luck Plant ).
What To Do With Tulips After They Bloom
Once tulips have finished blooming, there are a few key steps you can take to ensure their continued health and future blooms. First, it’s important to resist the temptation to cut back the foliage immediately after flowering. Allow the foliage to naturally turn yellow and wither away, as this process allows the bulb to store nutrients for future growth. During this time, continue watering the plant as needed. Once the foliage has completely died back, you can carefully dig up the bulbs and store them in a cool, dry place for the summer months. Alternatively, you can leave the bulbs in the ground if you live in an area with mild winters, but be sure to mark their location so you don’t accidentally disturb them while gardening.
Deadhead The Spent Tulip Flowers
One of the best things you can do to tulips after they bloom is to deadhead them, simply put you should remove the flowers that have already started to die back. The main reason why you should deadhead tulips is to force the plant to focus on growing roots and storing as many nutrients in the bulb as possible. The more nutrients in the bulbs are the better and easier it will be to flower the next year.
Ideally, you should deadhead tulips before the seed heads appear, in case you missed that time window you should still remove the seed heads.
Do Not Cut Down The Tulip Leaves
A lot of people tend to cut the leaves of the tulips once they have flowered, this is a big mistake. Once the tulip has finished flowering it will use its leaves to produce energy either for the seeds or for the bulb. As you have already deadheaded your tulips this will force it to use the energy harnessed by the leaves to go right into the bulb. If you would cut down the leaves you will stop this process which could simply starve the bulb or severely stunt its growth.
Leave The Tulip Leaves Die Back Naturally
I know that brown and almost decaying tulip leaves are not the best sight in the garden, but this decaying process is extremely important for the tulips. As the tulip leaves are turning brown they are actually being recycled by the bulb, basically, the tulip bulb absorbs all the nutrients out of the leaves as it doesn’t need the leaves anymore. Growing leaves takes a lot of energy, which is why tulips do not have a lot of them, and you should allow them to die back naturally.
Fertilize The Tulips
Once the tulip has finished blooming it will use its leaves and roots to collect and store energy and nutrients for the bulb, this is an ideal time to fertilize as it will benefit the tulips greatly. You will need to use a quick-release fertilizer, as the tulips will not have enough time to absorb the nutrients from the slow-release fertilizers. My personal recommendation is to use a foliar fertilizer that the tulips can absorb right through their leaves, just make sure not to over-fertilize as it could harm the plant.
Mulch The Tulip Bulbs
After the tulips have finished flowering and their leaves have also died back, you should cover them with an organic mulch. Mulches like hay, leaves, compost, and grass clippings tend to be the best for tulip bulbs as they decay relatively fast and allow the tulip bulbs to absorb their nutrients. You can also use wood chips as mulch as it is one of the best mulches to suppress weeds, just keep in mind that it will take several years until the wood chips decompose and actually feed the soil.
Dig Up The Tulip Bulbs
We have all seen how beautiful tulip gardens look while they are in full bloom, but the trick to this beauty is that they always use fresh tulip bulbs every season. Basically, most tulip gardens treat their tulips as annuals, even though they are perennials it is not guaranteed that they will actually flower the second year. Some gardeners tend to either replace the old bulbs with new ones or store the old ones in a dark cool environment during the winter.
Key Takeaways
- After tulips have bloomed you should deadhead the spent flowers and remove the seed heads. By doing this you force the tulips to focus their energy on the bulb and not on producing seeds. In addition to this, you should also allow the tulip leaves to decay naturally without cutting them down. Tulips will recycle their leaves, the energy and nutrients from the leaves will go right into the bulbs, which increases their chances of flowering next year.
- By far the most important things are deadheading and leaving the leaves to decay naturally.
- If you do these two simple steps you will give the best chance for the tulip bulbs to grow, divide and even flower the next year.
