Tulips are a wonderful flower that generally blooms in the spring (March through April).
After the tulip flowers have bloomed, you will enjoy them for approximately two weeks.
Once the flowers have turned, you will cut the flower heads from the plant.
Then, after a week or two, you will cut the remaining foliage down to the ground once the leaves are yellow-brown. These flowers are bulbs, and cutting them back will help the bulbs strengthen enough to bloom again the following spring.
What to Do with Tulips After They Bloom in a Garden
If your tulips are planted in a great light and temperature at home, you will find blooms in early or mid-spring.
Here’s how to get tulips to bloom:
- In the fall, plant your tulip bulbs about 6-8 weeks ahead of when the first frost is expected.
- After your tulip bulb has been in the ground for 16 weeks of cold, it will sprout within 1-3 weeks.
- Once your tulip sprouts, flowers, and blooms, it should make a great outdoor landscape for about 2 weeks of time.
If you want to cut your tulips to decorate your home or give as a gift, read “Can I Cut Tulips Before They Bloom”.
If you want your tulips to come back again:
- Once the flower fades and dies, you are needing cut flower heads off from the plants.
- Snip underneath with pruning scissors and discard the faded flower head only. Leave stalk and foliage on the tulip as is.
- By leaving the foliage in the ground, you are allowing the bulbs to reabsorb their nutrients back in the ground.
- After a week or so the foliage will die, turning yellow or brown color, that’s the time to cut tulips down to the ground.
Tulips are perennial flowers, meaning they blossom every year.
If all goes well with your conditions, your pruned bulbs can stay in the ground and produce flowers around the same time next year.
Let’s jump into some tips on how to take care of your bulbs for the rest of the year below.
What to Do with Tulips After They Bloom in Pots
If you have grown your tulips in pots, you may never see them flower again the following year.
This is due to potted bulbs being in a stress environment where they can access neither the nutrients, organic material, rainwater, nor the temperatures experienced by bulbs planted in keeling soil outdoors.
You can try to save them like your garden-tulips, but you would be better off just discarding the bulbs after every season and planting new bulbs.
If you want to try to save your bulbs for gardens next fall, dig them out of the pot, brush off the soil and keep them in a refrigerator at approximately 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remember: Leave them in the refrigerator for least eight weeks, and do not put any fruit in the refrigerator with the bulbs because the fruit gives off gas that will kill the developing flower.
How to Make Sure Tulips Will Rebloom Next Spring
If you want to plant new bulbs for fresh tulip blooms next spring, there are three different ways to go about it.
The easy way is to plant new bulbs every fall and toss the old bulbs that have bloomed.
If you don’t mind leaving nature to do its own thing, you can leave your trimmed bulbs in the ground and they will re-emerge next year.
And finally – if you like to garden and are willing to do some work, you can also completely detach your bulbs from the ground during the summer and replant them during the fall.
To do this you’ll want to cut the flower heads and foliage like described above. Then, about 6 weeks after flowering occurs, you will want to completely dig up your bulbs.
You should discard any bulbs that look damaged or diseased.
The rest of the bulbs stem can dry out. Then store them in a dark dry, over the summer. Ideally, keep bulbs in nets or store bags with holes to ventilate your bulbs.
Come fall time, you will be ready to replant your bulbs and start the process all over again.
Can I Cut Tulips Before They Bloom?
Some people choose to enjoy their tulip blooms in a vase in their home. If that is your preference, it is important to cut your tulips before they bloom, as they will continue to grow and bloom in a vase.
To do this, cut the stem when the bloom is closed but clearly shows color. You can cut whichever length stem/foliage you would like, but 1/2″ of stem below the bloom is the minimum.
Use a sharp knife or pruning scissors to cut the stem at an angle. Place them into fresh, cool water immediately. In the process, be sure to replace the water every day and to make a new cut at the base of the stem.
Flowers that are cut when the blooms are closed will continue to grow and open in the vase.
There is no need for floral preservative. After the blooms are open, the blooms can last up to a week in a vase.
Will My Tulips Grow Back Next Year?
Tulips are perennial plants, which means that tulips will rebloom every year. Although, it will depend on several conditions of the tulips that could affect the blooming, such as temperature, composition of soil, bugs, sun, drought, and so on.
After blooming season, you may leave your tulip bulbs in the ground for the next year to rebloom naturally on their own.
If they fail to grow back the following year, you may need to purchase new bulbs for planting. After those grow and bloom, you may dig those tulip bulbs and store them for replanting in the following fall season.
Here are some ideas for how to ensure the tulips have the proper conditions for re-blooming.
How Can I Promote Tulip Blooms?
Tulips are stunning flowers that can only grow in certain locations.
You can increase tulip blooms by planting them in appropriate climates, protected from the wind, and fertilizing in the fall.
When planting, bulbs should be at least 5cm apart.
The bulbs need to go through a chilling period of about 3-4 months before they will bloom.
After they bloom, the tulips will thrive in full or afternoon sun but should be kept from too much heat. Tulips can snap easily in strong winds.
In my experience – tulips tend to like soil with a pH between 6 and 7 and free from moisture. You should water your tulips only when you plant the bulbs, and let Mother Nature take care of watering. If there is a drought, then feel free to step in.
You can start to provide nutrients back to the soil by fertilizing your tulip bulbs in the fall, too.
You can do this by applying a few inches of compost on top of the bulbs after they have been planted in the fall.
Different Types of Tulips
There are thousands of varieties of tulips around the world.
The three most common are:
- Triumph Tulips
- Double Tulips
- Single Early Tulips
Tulips are known for their design and beautiful colors.
These include shades of:
- Red
- Pink
- White
- Purple
- Yellow
- Orange
- Bicolor variates
Final Thoughts on Bloomed Tulips
Blooming tulips are lovely but should be pruned properly for new blooms next year.
If you want a tulip bloom next spring, your best option is to buy and replant new bulbs in the fall.
For those who want to save their old bulbs, you can either leave them in the ground and let nature take its course or you can store your bulbs inside during the summer and replant them again in the fall.
Whichever option you choose, no it is important to put them in the appropriate environment, fertilized in fall and watered only in a drought.
No matter how you proceed, you will have beautiful new tulip blooms next spring.