Removing tulips
SparklesJD
Posts: 344
I'm sure a variant on this gets asked several times a year...
My pride and joy is currently a large planter in my front garden, which I have a bulb lasagne in, mainly tulips, some narcissus and glory of the snow.
What would you do with it as the various flowers start to die down?
I think I'll treat the narcissus and GotS as annuals and remove them as they finish flowering, but I'd quite like to keep the tulips if I can - should I repot them elsewhere until their foliage has also died down?
Should I add something to the soil before planting something else, or won't the bulbs have taken much out?
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The narcissus and the chionodoxa will come reliably come back, though the narcissus may not flower quite as much next year.
It is the tulips that are tricky ones. After the foliage has died back you can lift them and dry them off and then store them where mice can't get at them, to replant in the autumn, or you could plant them somewhere elseand wit to see what happens.
If the bulbs are large enough they may come back, but many don't or the flowers are much smaller or missing altogether. The big Darwins are better at returning than some others, the little species ones are good and some other varieties. I have buds on Ballerina and Princess Irene that were left in their pots last year and have had Queen of Night repeat in the past. The blousy doubles seem to use up all their energy on their first flowering and it is better to replace them unless you want to wait several years for them to build up again! Planting really deeply does help in this respect.