At the price of tulip bulbs, I don't think it is worth digging and saving, especially when this would delay the vegetable garden planting. Al

I am curious. Even though I garden in a tiny city plot, I have a separate vegetable garden from my flower/ornamental garden. What is preventing you from having a designated vegetable garden separately from your flower garden?

One other idea is planting your vegetable among your tulips or other flowers. That way you can double the use of the garden space.

Another idea is forgoing tulips altogether. Most tulips are over rated. They are gaudy and short lived anyway.

You already know that you need to allow the foliage to die back. After that you can dig up the tulips and dry them off ready to replant in the Autumn. If you Google storing tulips you'll find lots of info. I personally like a lot of tulips, although the very fancy ones don't particularly appeal. However, they don't make very good cut flowers if you consider return on time and space. They will last a few days in a vase. They will last longer in the garden. But they will not last as long as daffodils or hyacinths if you want early cut flowers. For the cost of the bulbs, the time spent planting and lifting I'd just buy a few bunches in season if I wanted some indoors.

I also plant tulips in my veggie garden, which is fenced in. But I treat them like annuals, they really don't come back too well, the exception being some of the species types, and the impression tulips give me a couple of years. Although I do have about 5 red impression tulips that I planted almost 30 years ago, these just keep coming up year after year, no idea why. I buy some early and late types, cheap from WM or other inexpensive place and plant them as annuals, when they're done blooming I just pull them out and toss them in the compost pile.

Placing plants over bulbs is usually not good for the bulbs. This goes for both perennials and annuals. The highest success I have had is when the bulbs have the bed to themselves.

By placing plants over them, you tend to keep the garden moist which rots the bulbs. To have large leaves overlap the area can work as the plants are not above the bulbs. Rhubarb can work. Drought tolerant plants are best to help the bulbs dry out.

I forget the name of the one pictured but it works well for me as it flops forward and covers well. Easy to maintain although difficult to get rid of...

If you don't mind planting your tomatoes and peppers a week or so late, the tulips will have just enough time to ripen. Later tulips such as parrots and some of the temple of beauty types will put you back two weeks or so.

I cannot stand an entire bed of spring bulbs by themselves. They look so regimented and artificial. I prefer seeing them interspered among perennials and shrubs like the garden in this picture:
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Planted this way, there will be no void in the garden once the spring bulbs have passed their prime, because perennials and other plants will begin to bloom and shelter or draw attention away from faded leaves of the spring bulbs.

BTW, the garden in the picture is Rosemary Verey's Barnsley House. Rosemary Verey is a famous English garden designer.

This post was edited by pitimpinai on Tue, Sep 30, 14 at 15:10

One thing about tulips is that moles eat the bulbs. So a fence may not help. There's nothing wrong with digging them up but since you usually plant them in the fall this may not be the best time. I suppose if you store them for next fall maybe but that's a long time. Transplanting them I've never tried but it should work- it may slow down or speed up their growth in the spring.

If you have a lot of extra space around your garden, then there is a dual fence technique that will stop deer.

Surround your bed with a 4' fence. Then place another one around it about 3' out about 3' high. Presuming a square garden, leave the corners of the outer fence open. The deer can jump into the pen between then have no running space to make it over the inner fence. They leave by the corners.

This fails if the deer can do a "Dick Fosley". If they do, then you have a whole new income waiting for you.

Back to your original statement. When do the deer eat the tulips? If it is while they are blooming, then why dig them up?

How's this one?

I have many spring bulbs all in one 9' x 30' bed. My plants bloom in order from the house and out to the back border. Snow drops and Witch Hazel give way to Crocuses, then Squills and mini daffodils, backed with early pale yellow Forsythia and Pink Forsythia. After bloom, I have New York Aster showing green to fill in.

From there I have collections of variety daffodils giving away to Quince, Phlox, Lilacs, red, white, pink Azalea, Viburnum, Wisteria, etc around the yard as the months go.

The idea is that I have clusters of color in any given month. You can tell time by where the bloom is happening.

After the bloom, there is that study in textures that take over.

Emerogork, that sounds delightful!

Emerogork, you mention crocuses and squill. Naturalised? Not eaten by voles? And are those chionodoxa in the picture?

So many times I write a response, check it, change it, check it again then neglect to hit Submit....

Now I am not sure if they are Chionodoxa but my mother always called them Squills. Small pearls of bulbs that seem to roam all over the yard, even up hill.

I have Hyacinth, tulips, many kinds of daffodils (but nothing eats those anyway) gladiola, crocuses, Jack in the pulpit, Caladium, Elephant ear, Spanish bells, and two others that I forget the names....

No voles, moles, mice, chipmunks, skunk, hedgehogs, or even squirrels touch them. However, once, I planted about 150 crocuses in the lawn and the next morning found 150 holes instead but that is the only evidence of critters. No deer either but I did see a fox once.

I have a large wooded area about 400' away in back of me.

Interesting situation, Emerogork: crocuses got eaten but not tulips. Perhaps where the tulips are is not as accessible for the little hungry darlings as were the crocuses in the lawn?

I am fairly certain that the blue blooms in your photo are chinonodoxa.

Well, only that one batch of newly planted ones. I have a mass of very early crocuses under the maple tree on the other side of the yard that have never been touched.

After checking the pics, I tend to think more of Squills as these are flower up while I think Chiononodoxa are looking down, no?

Either way, they don't seem to be all that different as they are of the rare early flowers that bloom blue. I also have them under my Star Magnolia.