Tulips are a stunning show of color in the spring and are one of the easiest bulbs to care for. We are located in Northern Alabama (Cullman to be specific). We are considered to be zone 8A. One thing to note that is if you live in a southern climate, you will probably need to use pre-chilled tulip bulbs. We often don’t get cold enough for the bulbs to put out very long stems. This ensures that they get the cold they need to grow long and tall.
When to Plant
The perfect time to plant tulip bulbs is in late November. We actually tend to plant Thanksgiving weekend. Because we are growing en masse, we dig a 6 inch deep trench as long as we need. If you’re just growing a few, you can dig or use an auger attached to your drill to create your 6 inch holes. We add a little bit of compost to the hole or trench and then cover back over with soil. We usually water them in and as long as our winter isn’t terribly dry, we don’t do much of anything else to them. This year we are growing 1,600 tulip bulbs in quite a few different varieties. We only cover with frost cloth if they have buds.
Harvesting Tulips
It gets a little bit controversial for us once the flowers begin to show color on their buds. We pull the plant up bulb and all. The reason we do it this way is because we can put the flowers in storage and the bulb continues to feed the flower and it will continue to elongate. When we’re ready to use the flower, we take the bulb off and put it into compost. If you’re a home grower, you don’t have to do this. If you would like to cut the flower and see if your bulb will produce next year, you will need to leave two sets of leaves attached to the bulb. I can’t guarantee that it will work, but it is worth a shot.
If you cut the flower at the right stage, you should be able to enjoy it inside for a week at minimum. Continue to give it fresh water to drink and give the stems a healthy snip to ensure the longest vase life.