Bulbs less than 12cm I discard, as they generally are too small to bloom next year. If you wish to grow them on till they reach blooming size,you may, but with the cost of blooming size bulbs, I don't think it is time well spent. In any case I would wait till fall to plant them and not try and bring them out of dormancy now. Al

Thanks for your advice,Al. My Mondial were so beautiful that I wanted to propagate them if possible, as I am a propagation addict. These bulbs were all planted in pots, which were put into my island bed, and when flowers died, I took them out and put in various other perennials. (I saw this on an Alan Titchmarsh TV programme). I am an absolute learner, as far as tulips are concerned, so thanks again for your help. Marni

You can bring the bulblets on if you like, but they will not bloom for at least two years. Give the bulbs Mediterranean conditions in summer--think the Maquis, where lavender and artemisia grow well. Baking hot, and fairly dry. In winter, give them cold, dry conditions, as can be found in the mountains of Turkey.

I live in a climate where tulips multiply and establish easily, so I allow my tulips in containers to continue to grow until the foliage fades, then place the containers in an out-of-the-way spot where they will receive only natural rainfall (very little--about 15 cm rainfall per YEAR) until autumn. I then remove the bulbs and plant them in my xeric front garden (excellent drainage, dry conditions), where they recover regardless of size. I plant both bulbs and bulblets, either one good-sized bulb or two or three bulblets per hole. I do not attempt to recover these bulbs once they have been planted in the ground, because it takes a great deal of effort on my part to dig through the rocks, clay and sand in that garden. Still, if you can replicate these conditions, you can eventually bring the bulblets to flowering size.

Thanks for your advice. We usually have long hot dry summers, and not too much rain in winter, but since last autumn it has been very wet. February was very hot this year, but since then, weather has been just like Scotland, where I used to live. Anyway, I will do as you suggest with the pots. Thanks again.

Bulblets on any bulbs should be planted straightaway. The original parent bulb can be stored until Autumn, but bulblets always need to be planted immediately. They can take up to a couple of years to develop into adult, flowering bulbs, so you could always stick them in somewhere out of the way and hopefully in a couple of yeas you will get a nice surprise when they come up.

Thanks oriunda for your message which I was delighted to see because I had just planted the little bulblets in pots, 3 to a pot, and had put them in my mini greenhouse. I intend keeping them there until Autumn, and then have a look at them, and hope I do get a nice surprise.