A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Tulips? Whaddya' do with 'em . . .

I did do some bulbs in the fall - the crocus, daffs, etc. They're outside enjoying the snow, of course.

I was given 7 tulip bulbs at Christmas - I put them in the fridge (like an elderly chap who used to live in this building used to do).

I'm wondering . . . seeing as how I now have this wee 'grow' thing going on the office desk under the flurorescent lamp, maybe I should put those tulip bulbs in a pot?

Or should I wait till early spring and put them outside where I plan to have them grow? If so, do I do it while the ground's still cold or wait till the soil is warm?

This is the first time I've put bulbs in, by the way - I've never done them before so for me, it's all experimental.

It's the first time I've cultivated seeds gathered in autumn too - so I guess I'm still a newbie - ha ha!

Normally, you would plant tulips outdoors in the fall. I would just pot the bulbs up and try to force the blooms and then in the spring when the foliage begins to wither you could plant them outside in a more permanent location or let them dry and then store them for fall planting.

Thanks, Terry - you're probably right.

I read an article in Canadian Gardening (did I already say this - forgive me if I did; I have my age to blame - convenient, eh?).

Anyway - the writer of the article said she got some bulbs for Christmas, then put them in the ground in January - she piled big blobs of snow over the spots she wanted the tulips. Then the ground softened underneath the blobs, so she planted her tulips.

They came up in the spring - well, I'd believe that when I saw it.

Tulip bulbs do need to have a period of chill before they will grow and bloom. That's why people in warmer climates can't grow them in their yards unless they chill them in refridgerators first. Our faithful webmaster probably has some material about forcing tulip bulbs. Let's see what a search brings up.

Here ya go: http://www.thegardenhelper.com/forcing.html