Never heard of the 6 - 8 weeks thing. I plant mine in November. Or October if I have already bought them. Just plant them and forget them. Water them on planting if the ground is dry. As long as they are at the right depth, and are not overshadowed by weeds or the other plants they will come up in the Spring. My only piece of advice would be to plant in small groups not rows.

Your tulips would much rather be outside than the dungeon basement.

Sounds like that bed has been cultivated but because of the Hosta and pansies I'm wondering if it is a shade bed? Tulips need 6 hours sun. More if it's available. I've never heard of the 6-8 weeks in regards to bulbs, only in regards to bearded iris rhizomes which must get some root mass established before winter freezes.

Did your pkg. name the tulips or tell what type they are? Most of the tulips offered will not perrenialize. My favorites don't :-( After they show green growing tips they may be watered if Mother Nature isn't helping. Do not give supplemental water before then.

(Basements can be used for tender bulbs that would die in a cold winter or for "forcing")

In addition to the above information, I would only add that the site should offer well-drained soil in addition to sufficient sunlight. Soil that remains heavily saturated or water logged in winter will cause the bulbs to rot.

Personally, I'd plant now but later won't hurt either. In zone 7, your soil will not freeze to any significant degree so tulips can be planted just about any time the bulbs are available in stores, usually from Labor Day onward until they sell out. And there are those procrastinating gardeners (like me) that get busy or forget they have the bulbs and wait to plant until December or January!! It's all good.

btw, ignore that first frost caveat!! Frost has no effect on hardy spring flowering bulbs and I'm not sure why they would include that condition as part of the planting instructions. And frost doesn't even have much bearing on soils as to freezing either. It takes a lot of extended cold weather to cause ground soil to freeze - way more than the what a "first frost" may offer!!

Thanks for the replies; they were very helpful! Irisgal, to answer your question, no the package didn't name the tulips, it just lists "Spring Assortment". I'm hoping to dip my toe into tulip planting this year and depending on results, searching for specific types next year. I was reading online that sometimes you can dig the bulbs back up after the flowers die away? I'll have to do some more research into that.

Based on your replies, I'm canning my idea to overwinter in my basement. I think my next plan of action is to inspect my front yard a bit closer. It is a bit of a shady spot, but I think it does get considerable light during the warmer months; I've noticed that some of the Hostas seem to have a little bit of sunburn. I'm really looking forward to having pretty tulips pop up next spring!

I usually don't plant my tulips until November (zone 7). As everyone has mentioned, they like a sunny spot. I love to plant groups in pots and I just leave them on the porch and throw a bit of water on them from time to time over the winter. If you haven't done much container gardening give it a try! You end up with nice portable pops of color that you can move about during bloom time. The only thing you have to worry about with pots is the drainage issue. The first year I planted tulip bulbs in pots I didn't think about that and a lot of my bulbs rotted out. Tulips like water in the spring but they don't want to swim in it! (it was an expensive lesson for me but I tried again the next year and it was pretty fabulous. Enjoy!