Are you sure your refrigerator was not also used for fresh fruit and vegetables during the time the bulbs were being chilled? Al

No Al, I have a separate fridge. Any other ideas whould be great.

It really depends on the variety of tulips you are planting, some do not perform well, I know it from experience, for example, Washington tulips perform well for me while others .... turn into compost.

Really it´s a matter of asking which varietes perform well for the people in your specific area, no I don´t mean zone, I mean the specific area where you live or by the most expensive way to do find out, purchasing, planting and waiting to find out which ones perform well. That´s how I learned because people here don´t plant tulips in their gardens.

I had this happen with 2 sets of bulbs while the others...many other did very well.

One was a bag of red DH's from Sam's. The Other a box of 2 double-flowering bulbs from SAm's. Kept in the same fridge, planted next to others that did great.

Bulbs may look the same, but you just don't know where they were or how they were treated before they arrived at your fridge. I chill for 10-12 weeks and I'm zone 7b/8a

cynthia

Tulips require about 14-17 weeks of cooling at between 5C and 9C (42F to 49F). Storage for too long at too low a temperature can cause bud blast (small buds that shrivel up and don't bloom). Storage too short or above 49F can cause short stems and/or bud blast. When you plant them in the ground after chilling, the ground temp should be below 50F for the remainder of the ~15 total weeks of cold. So if you chilled for 8 weeks, you need to make sure your ground temps are below 50 when you plant and remain there for at least another 7 weeks or so.