How to Plant and Grow Tulips for a Breath-Taking Springtime Display

Dig, drop, done! Find out how to plant and grow tulips that will light up your garden in spring.

Nothing says spring like a patch of brightly colored tulips. Tulips are fall-planted bulbs, much like daffodils, alliums, and crocuses. With so many tulip varieties, creating any color design you dream of is possible. Tulips can be categorized as early, mid, or late spring bloomers, and planting some of each extends your tulip enjoyment for as long as six weeks.

While tulips are perennials, they’ve been bred for hundreds of years to be at their best their first year. Many tulips bloom poorly in subsequent springs and are best replaced with new stock. However, some tulips are suitable for use as perennials and are identified as such by vendors.

Tips

If there are particular types of tulips your heart is set on, order your bulbs early because the most popular varieties often sell out. Even if you buy them early, sellers will wait to ship them when the planting time is right. But if you are looking for bargains, waiting until later in the season can result in some deep discounts on tulip bulbs.

Where to Plant Tulips

When picking a spot to plant tulips, remember they need good drainage, loamy soil, and full sun. And, do keep in mind they are absolutely a deer magnet. Many hopeful tulip growers have planted tulips in the fall with high expectations, only to find them decimated in spring and never see a bloom. If you have deer issues in your garden, your tulips may need to be fenced or grown in pots on the deck.

Tips

To design a tulip bed or border, grab colored pencils and draw circles using the colors of your tulips. Play with which colors you like next to each other. A row of tulips isn’t as showy as a teardrop or an arc.

Tulips also do well planted in containers. Choose a deep pot with drainage holes. Since they won’t occupy the planter for long once they sprout, tulips in planters can be crowded in for a dense display of flowers.

How and When to Plant Tulips 

While planting tulips can be distilled down to the phrase “dig, drop, done,” there’s a little more to know about planting the bulbs properly. Tulips need a period of chilling, called vernalization, to bloom so it’s best to plant tulip bulbs in the fall for spring blooms in locations with cold winters. But tulip fans in USDA Hardiness Zone 7 or warmer may need to buy pre-chilled bulbs. Most varieties need cool temperatures for about three months to bloom reliably.

Try to plant tulip bulbs about two to three weeks after your first frost date. They can be planted later but must be in the ground before it freezes. The perfect time is when the fall weather arrives for good, and temperatures are 40°F to 50°F during the day.

Related: Can You Plant Tulips in the Spring and Still Get Blooms?

Tulip Care Tips

Tulips are generally easy to grow in both garden beds and containers, especially if you just want to enjoy the flowers for one season. Here’s what tulips need to thrive:

Light

Tulips reach their largest size when planted in full sun, but they also grow well in partial sun. In many areas, they are done blooming before deciduous trees leaf out, so locations that would be shady in summer can be good sites for spring tulips. 

Soil and Water

Tulips need a site with good drainage, whether planted in the ground or in containers. Check the drainage holes on pots and planters to ensure they are open.

Loosen the soil 6-12 inches deep, depending on the size of the bulbs. Larger varieties of tulips require deeper soil beds than dwarf sizes. Work in some compost. When planting tulips in pots, any high-quality potting soil will work.

Related: The 7 Best Potting Soils of 2024

Water tulip bulbs after planting, and then leave them alone until spring. An exception is if you have an unusually dry late autumn or early spring and the ground becomes dry. Extremely arid soil conditions can start dehydrating bulbs, but it’s not usually an issue. After they pop up in spring, water them every week or two if the soil feels dry an inch down. 

Temperature and Humidity

Tulips pop up in early spring and provide some of the first color in the garden, but they fade away as summer arrives. They thrive in cool weather and 40–60% humidity.

Fertilizer

Tulips don’t require fertilizer, but a boost of a general-purpose fertilizer in spring, right as they pop from the ground, can be helpful. Applying a top dressing of compost in autumn after planting works well.

Pests and Problems 

Besides deer, which are notorious for munching on tulips, squirrels and other rodents can dig up tulip bulbs and stash them for a midwinter snack. To outwit them, cover the planted area with hardware cloth or chicken wire and remove it once the bulbs start to pop up in spring. A spray made of diluted hot sauce also works; spray the bulbs before planting and allow it to dry. Red pepper flakes sprinkled in the holes and near the top at planting time discourage digging rodents.

Wet ground and poor drainage cause problems for most bulbs, including tulips. If they stay soggy for long, the bulbs are susceptible to rot. If your ground is typically wet over winter, consider making a raised bed for your tulips.

Related: 10 Tips for Protecting Tulip Bulbs for the Best Spring Bloom

Types of Tulips

Start perusing the pages of tulip vendors, and you’ll quickly be amazed (or overwhelmed) at the sheer number of styles and colors. Breeders have been working for centuries to bring new colors, shapes, and patterns to gardeners. Tulips are often classified into a few main types, including:

Species Tulips

Small and well suited to naturalizing, species tulips are the most perennial of all tulips. They are sometimes called wildflower tulips or wild tulips and are perfect for a less formal setting like a rock garden or a meadow. There are several different species of tulips; Tulipa turkestanica is one species shown here.

Darwin Hybrids

The most popular of all tulip varieties, Darwin tulips are hybrids with big, showy flowers and the classic tulip shape (single late ‘Dreamland’ variety shown here). They are reliable bloomers with long stems perfect for cut flower bouquets. In colder climates, they may come back for two or three years.

Parrot Tulips

Not your everyday tulip, parrot tulips have ruffled or cut petals, giving the impression of feathers, hence the name (‘Flaming Parrot’ shown here). Vibrant, striking colors add to the stunning display. Parrot tulips bloom a little later than many others, extending the color in your tulip bed.

Lily-Flowered Tulips

Slender stems holding blooms of pointed petals resembling a lily set these tulips apart from the typical tulip bloom (‘Ballade’ shown here). From above, the blooms have a star shape and can be quite large. Lily-flowered tulips are well suited for container plantings.

Related: Add Peony Tulips to Your Garden for a Colorful Cutting Flower

Tulip Companion Plants

Tulip flowers mingle beautifully with many other spring-flowering plants. Here are a few popular choices, depending on whether you want their blooms to coincide or occur in sequence.

Daffodil

Cheery daffodils are excellent for naturalizing, and if you plan on growing perennial tulips, combining them with daffodils is a great way to add color to your springtime palette. Once you plant daffodils, they’ll return year after year and even multiply. Like tulips, early, mid, and late-season daffodil varieties are available to keep the blooms coming for months.

Crocus

Crocuses are often the first spring bulbs to bloom, usually beating tulips by a couple of weeks. The blooms are petite and ground-hugging and come in white, yellow, orange, blue, and purple colors. They’re easy to plant en masse and can last for years.

Peony

Peonies bloom after most tulips. They’re hardy, low maintenance, and will continue the spring color into early summer. Peonies are prized cut flowers and make lovely, long-lasting bouquets, too. They like the same fertile soil and sunshine that tulips prefer. Try planting tulips in groups around your peony plants in complementary shades.

Related: 7 Facts Every Tulip Lover Should Know

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the best time to pick tulip flowers?

When they start to show color but are not yet fully open, tulips are ready for the vase. When harvested at the right stage, they’ll last in a bouquet for a week or more. 

Can I cut the leaves after tulips are done blooming?

If you aren’t growing tulips as perennials, pulling them up or cutting the foliage when the blooming is done is OK. Naturalized tulips grown as perennials need to keep their leaves intact to store energy for the following year in their bulbs. Let their leaves naturally decline in fall, and then remove the old growth.

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