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Tulips foliage removed too early

9 years ago

Hello garden experts... just want to ask for some tips. We dug up some tulips but removed the foliage to none. Would the bulbs still survive to give next year's spring bloom? Is there a way to save them still? Thanks!!

Comments (10)

  • 9 years ago

    Thank you @floral_uk. The blooms have died but the foliage were still green

    Crossing my fingers they will survive, can i store them as usual then?

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Store them? What do you mean "store them?" Why did you dig them up?

  • 9 years ago

    I mean to store them for next year's spring. I got them from another garden to be placed in mine.

  • 9 years ago

    I'm not very sanguine about these bulbs. Tulips can be tricky to perennialise at the best of times and if you cut off the foliage prematurely you reduced their chances significantly. As I said, all you can do is cross your fingers. I wouldn't plant them anywhere where their failure would have an impact. Best to put them in an out of the way spot.

  • 9 years ago

    I would also add that depending on where you are located, the "best" place to store bulbs is in the ground :-) Unless your climate demands prechilling before planting, the greatest chances of survival for any bulb is in the ground where it is intended to grow.

    FWIW, I routinely plant spring flowering bulbs at this time of year. Sometimes they are the gift potted tulips but they could just as well be starts that go on sale in early spring that I purchase to enjoy indoors temporarily (like hyacinths) or the discards remaining after the bloom cycle has finished that the nursery is about to discard. In fact, I just this week planted an assortment of tulips and hyacinths that I had accumulated over the last few months :-) They will all reappear next spring.

  • 9 years ago

    Yep, any day now, I will be turning out the tulips pots and replanting on my allotment. I may even disbud any blooms for another year to allow the bulbs a chance to fully perennialise when they can be left alone without further intervention from me...although I do routinely deadhead all my bulbs apart from a tiny handful I want to let run to seed (species tulips for example).

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I live in Missouri, and I don't dig tulip bulbs up to "store" them. I plant them in the ground and leave them there forever. (Unless I want to move them to another part of the yard.) There's really no other reason to ever dig them up.

    I don't remove the foliage when it's green. I cut off the spent flower, but never the leaves. They will die naturally, and when they are dry and brown you can easily pull them off and throw them away.

    So if you are digging established tulips from somewhere, you should plant them in your yard immediately, water once a week or so until established, and then leave them alone so they can do their thing. Don't dig them back up!

  • 9 years ago

    FWIW, I routinely plant spring flowering bulbs at this time of year.

    I gotta make a conscious effort to do this in the future. It is easier to dig the ground now and one is able to see the foliage of existing bulbs and so can better place the new ones.

    I wish it was possible to purchase bulbs this time of year!

  • 9 years ago

    You can usually find pots of bulbs which have finished flowering on the reduced shelves at this time of year. They can be planted out in the garden.

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