I'm having the exact same thing with my tulips. I did plant them deeper (6") and in pots, but they've come up maybe 2" above the soil and have bloomed! It looks weird, but still pretty! I can't really help you with the "what went wrong" question, but as to leaving them in the ground for next year, your zone (as mine) is probably not cold enough for them to return. For more details, read "Tulip Time 2007" thread; Cynthia has listed some great step-by-step advice for growing tulips in Texas (probably applies to your zone too) in the 10th or so post from the top.

Hope this helps,
Anchita

In the tulip time thread you can see my pictures of tulips and hyacinths. The tulips are just blooming so those are pictures from last season. They have both been in the ground now for 7 years. So they will come back in NC if you are in the same area as me (we seem to be in the same zone). Perhaps water them well and make sure you don't pull out any foliage until it is completely brown (by then they don't even look unsightly and can decompose). Mulch them as well to lock in moisture and they should come back stronger next year. I never fertilize so if you do you should take into account the best times to do so. I am not sure about fertilizing. Good luck!

Jmblack, sorry for assuming that tulips would be non-returners for you as well. I guess zones that are close can still have very different growing patterns!

Jqpublic, thanks for correcting my assumption; I'm a newbie and would've hated to give wrong advice because of my inexperience. In future, I'll be more careful about jumping in.

Anchita

Also depends on the type of tulip. Many are one shot deals.

Hi! In early Dec I planted about 90 bulbs, 3 different varieties, sent as a gift from Holland. One variety was white and "normal", one was pretty but had weird, distorted/curly petals, and one had the non-existent stems you decribed... They bloomed in the order described, a week or so apart.
My assumption was that the 2nd variety was infected and the 3rd variety was supposed to be short -who really knows! I didn't keep the boxes, so have no idea which varieties they are....

Hope this helps....

When tulips grow only an inch or two tall and bloom at that level if at all, it means they were not sufficiently chilled. Here in zone 9, I constantly am asked why my tulips are 24 to 30 inches tall and every plant blooming? There is always an assumption I am using a special fertilizer. In fact I do not fertilize at all. Tulips when purchased already have the bloom in the bulb, but they must go through winter temperatures to grow properly. For those of us not having REAL winter temperatures we must provide it artificially by refrigerating the bulbs from 6 to 10 weeks.Bulb sellers usually never mention this, fearing you would not buy if you knew this. Al

Thanks everyone!
I definitely would have chilled the bulbs if I had known... putting them in the fridge would not have been a hard thing to do.
Oh well, maybe I'll try again next year.