When I've stored them out of the ground dessication has been a problem.

iris_gal,

You and I have to store our tulips differently, and being in zone 9, you should cold treat them. I have had some dessication on bulbs primarily those where I did not keep the foliage attached to dry down naturally. But I do not need to cold treat my bulbs here in Minnesota, Minnesota does that for me automatically from a Sept or Oct planting. My storage period is siginificantly shorter than yours as well.

There is a pretty good article from the National Gardening Association at:
http://www.garden.org/howtos/index.php?q=show&id=1301

It specifically addresses growing tulips in the warmest hardiness zones among other things.

Thanks Old Dutch. I figured long summer temps. and low humidity were culprits. I now leave in dedicated pots and certain dry soil areas amongst bearded iris.

Digging and replanting your tulips is a slippery slope to climb. It starts innocently enough with a few dozen and before you know it snowballs into a couple hundred!
Mine nearly all rotted last summer because I didn't let them dry off enough before storing. It's not the nicest smell.

This spring I missed them, but it was nice having open beds to plant less useful things such as tomatoes and beans :)

I am not afraid to cull my bulbs and the screen porch where I cure has done an excellent job of drying down tulips and alliums, also regular potatoes and onions, without humidity concentrations. If push comes to shove, what I have can be replaced easily and relatively cheaply, too. I really like red tulips.

I like all kinds of tulips :)
This is where the tomatoes were supposed to go last year, now that the tulips are nearly all gone I have plenty of room.... but I still have this compulsion to dig and divide some of the stray bulbs that I missed last summer. Maybe I'll just dig two small patches, that shouldn't be a problem at all.
but I have daffodils to dig and divide this year too... plus annuals that still need planting. I'm never done.

I have taken to digging my tulips almost immediately after flowering while the leaves and stems are still green. I don't usually miss any that way. As long as the stems and leaves stay attached during curing I generally get good keeping bulbs for the next fall planting. This past year I got 3X to 4X muliplication of blooming sized bulbs. I never saw anything like it.

All I did differently was interplant my garlic varieties with the tulips in the prepared garlic beds and then not quite so deep as I used to plant when I bedded tulips on their own. I also have quite a few tiny bulblets that I may be able to grow on. There is no question in my mind that tulips love to feed and will make good use of extra fertile beds.

I like the way you think Dutch.
Digging when the foliage yellows is the best bet, but I'm always a few weeks behind. My garlic is looking good though, and I will dig that on time!
Are you thinking the garlic- tulip planting combo was good for your tulips, as in they liked the company?
I plant shallow, mostly out of laziness. I'll take a look for some more pictures, I've had bulbs so shallow they looked as if they were close to sunburning!

I think they liked the rich, re-fertilized beds and were neither bothered nor helped by the "company". Not a companion planting issue, I think, but one of diet.