A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Pink tulips

Several weeks ago while at a local grocery store, I spotted various colored tulips for sale. Of course I had to get pink tulips to enjoy at the house.

They did not last long but I managed to snap a few pics for all to enjoy. Recently in our local newspaper garden section, there was an article on tulips written by Dan Gill, a local horticulturalist. I was disappointed to read
"tulips do not rebloom well in our climate (New Orleans).
At best, for all of your effort digging and storing the bulb, you will see a few small flowers with most-or even all-bulbs not blooming at all. I generally recommend simply pulling them up, chopping them and putting them in your compost. Most gardeners like to "see for themselves", however, so if you would like to give it a try, here's what you do: Wait until the foliage is mostly yellow. Dig the bulbs and remove the foliage. Allow the bulbs to dry for a few days, and then store them in paper bags indoors over the summer. In early November, refrigerate the bulbs in the vegetable bin of your refrigerator. Replant them at the end of December or early January".

Needless to say I was disappointed to read this. I, for one, will be a "see for yourself" person and try my luck. I'll let you know in this thread how I make out next year! Dan Gill is not very encouraging with New Orleans grown tulips though.

Here's a few pics you can enjoy of my pink tulips. As I type this, I have only green foliage.





Closer view


I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed these tulips while they lasted.

What are tulips like in your area? By that I mean planting directions, etc. etc.

Anyone with tulip gardens, please show their pics here.

Those are [color:#3333FF]GORGEOUS, Stephanie!!!

I would give them a try too, though I can't speak for your zone there. My tulips are nice and leafy now, but not ready to bloom quite yet. I was VERY disappointed to see that some critter got to a few of them already, and chopped off the leaves and buds of a few! Got out there yesterday and put down the Milorganite that stinks so much and usually helps keep them away. [/color]

very pretty!!!! i dont have to dig mine up for my zone i leave em out in the ground all year, i got a few bloomin now.they bloomed last year too, ill take pics tomarrow.
i only have to dig up tender bulbs in fall and store indoors for winter oo they die.
thats somthing how us colder zones have to dig up tender bulbs to store in winter, and warmer zones have to dig up and chill bulbs! lol i would need another frig for storing bulbs if i lived in a warmer zone!

Yes we all want to grow what we are not suppose to grow in our zone.

My tulips are up now. In my zone they get natural long term freeze without the refrigerator. LOL

Aww I love your pink tulip.
I always love tulip. They are so beautiful. I wonder if they able to grow in my area here.

Very pretty, I love coloured tulips. I planted more last fall, can't wait to see them this spring. They were a mixed grab bag.

here's how some of my tulips looked last year-- they're right at home under a flowering crab tree,and should be blooming again in a couple of weeks.

(click photo to enlarge)

Love that color. Had tulips before I moved and now I'm not sure where to plant them at this house. Too much wind.

Stephanie, that's exactly what is said to us out here about tulips and all bulbs, in fact. I know how you feel !
Neko, how beautiful a yard !

Tulips need a cold period that they aren't going to get in your location. if you love your pink tulips you will need to lift them and give them time in your veggie bin.

I wouldn't wait and see. The disappointment is always difficult to deal with. He gave you the straight scoop.

April07,
Thanks! Wow, all the way from Australia! Maybe you should try growing tulips to see? Let us know.

Tamara,thanks. Let us know when yours bloom. Good luck! Nice thing about living in cold climates huh? Look forward to your tulip pics son.

cinta, Glad you are seeing tulips? What colors do you have?

neko nomad, Wow! Oh, and that flowering crab tree! Wow!
Beautiful pic from Ontario!

Lynn, thanks! Sorry some of yours got chopped and eaten. Hopefully you can salvage a few. Keep us posted.

Christy, thanks. That's one nice thing about living in a cold climate!

Hi Rosepetal!
Thanks! Hope you find just the right spot for your tulips!

Hey Deborah L,
Thanks! It sounds like California/New Orleans does have similar planting instructions as our zones are same or similar.

Hi Penny, thanks!

Hi Tammy, I am going to do just that. Thanks
Anyone else with tulips, tips, info and stories they may want to share?

Should I continue to water my tulip while the leave are on or just wait for the leaves to yellow without watering before I cut the yellow leaves?

Great post, Stephanie!

Thought I'd share a few pictures I took today of some new tulips for me this year. I posted in bloomin' fine too, but since this is a thread about them, I'm adding them here. I thought these were going to be a bright pink - one of my favorite colors - oh, well... they are very nice in their own right, even though it's not my favorite colors.



Same flowers, different lighting and angle:

Thanks Lynn!

Your tulips are very pretty. Do you know the name?

Well, I promised I would keep yall informed regarding my pink tulips that were so pretty last year. I kept the bulbs in a dark place for months, then refrigerated in Nov, Dec, then planted a few weeks ago. I was thrilled to see little sprouts a few days ago. Now, I am hoping for tulips! :)

Take a look.

Will keep you posted!

That's so exciting Stephanie!

Don't you just LOVE the first signs of spring - especially when we are having the coldest days of winter here right now!

Hi Lynn
Yesterday we had 70 degree weather. Today its a little cooler. First year I am trying my hand with leftover tulip bulbs. I am hoping for those wonderful pink tulips that I had the year before. I'm not holding my breath though according to what I have read on this subject. We'll see.
Thought I would try anyway.

Can't wait to see pics of the blooms.

nice pix. love pink. some i bought ended up being the wrong color but they all look good after a long winter.

Stephanie, 3 years ago my grand daughter gave me a big pot with a tulip blooming in it. I've left it outside in the same place and it blooms again every year. I'm sure you'll have beautiful flowers pretty soon.

Sheri

Hi tamara, will keep you posted!

Thanks dhuber.

Hi Sheri
thanks for the encouragement, I need that, particularly from what I read about tulips. That is so great your pottede tulip is 3 years old and still blooms. So you never dig it up and refrigerate? Do you know the name and what color does she bloom? Thanks again!

Well, a wind storm some days back knocked over my ten ft. Norfolk pine onto small potted plants a few feet over. Looks like I won't be seeing pink tulip blooms this year. One scroney piece is hanging on though but not well. Think I'll keep the bulbs anyway and try again next year. Most of the other small potted plants look to be okay. A few small iries have cut leaves.

Oh wow!! I LOVE that tulip.. it is gorgeous..I also am a PINK lover.. hehe I love tulips also, so it is a double whammy wow for me.. lol I don't have any tulips.. sadly. I planted some years ago when we moved in and they just never did well.. I don't know if I planted them too deep.. is that possible?? Of if the soil just isn't right.. I am not one to test soil and fertilize, though I know I probably should. :P Maybe I will buy a few pots of tulips that are blooming, like floweringchild's and plant them. Could I plant them this year, or would I have to winter them over?

Hi ~ Pinkhorseofcourse
Some of my tulips are barely in dirt. They seem to rise to the top after the spring rains. I usually dump the dirt from the planters on top of them and tap it down. lol they come up tooooooo early but they always bloom.
The first year after I had planted them they were 3 foot tall (dont know what happened there?) but then all the other years they have been a normal foot high.
I have never tried them in pots.

Hmm.. maybe that IS my problem then.. I put them too deep.. I think when I planted them I was concerned that I would plant them too close to the surface and that maybe they wouldn't come up. Bother. I can't win for losing.

You are in Indiana.. what zone are you in? I am in zone 5 I believe. Funny that yours got so tall one year. lol

I might be willing to try them one more time.. but planting them is alot of work.. unless of course I try YOUR method.. just dump some dirt on top of them.. ;)

The scroney piece has bit the dust. I took the remaining bulbs and stuck them in the ground, see what happens next year.

I thought I had lost all of my tulips last year. But to my suprise several of them had babies and came through so I have 5 or 6 bulbs. some of the babies are pretty small but I have my hopes up. I also have some daffodils and crocuses that I missed that are comming up. I'm excited about that and look forward to seeing them. I hope to get some more colors and specimens when I move to my new place. I would like to have a nice sized bulb bed with a wild profusion of different bulbs and colors all growing together. I think it would be great.

Good luck with your tulips.

My tulips come up about a foot or so and I'm in zone 3-4(borders in between), we have to plant them about 6 inches down.

Goodluck floweringchild!! You will have to keep us posted!


And TK, that is great that you had 'babies'!! And the bulb bed sounds gorgeous!! I wouldn't mind doing something like that as well..

Tamara, I just don't know what the deal is with mine.. I think I am just going to give up if they don't come up this year.. Give up on the ones that are already there I mean.. and start over.. I wish you could plant tulips in the spring and have them come up...

Ya know alot of the time, if you dig you'll find nothing. The moles eat the tulip bulbs. Mine disappear but I always buy and replace them with clearance bulbs. I've got a mix of colours everywhere now.

Hmmm.. I never thought of something possibly eating my bulbs..

Hi tk, glad to see you here! That is good at least several of your tulips came back. And a good idea to prepare a nice size bulb bed with assortments of bulbs as well as color. Let us know how that goes.

tamara, wow, 6" downunder! That is good they come back for you each year.

and pinkhorse, hi, and thanks pink lover! :wink:

Well, then mine shouldn't have been buried too deep. I am sure I didn't put that that deep. Maybe something did eat them.. Time to start over. :wink: