My tulips came up fine, lots of leaves, but the foliage is spindly and there are few flowers. They used to be lovely a few years ago. What went wrong? Should I have fertilized them? How can I get them to bloom again?
Minnesota Master Gardeners say:
Not all tulips will give a repeat performance in Minnesota, and once they decline it is hard to get them to recover in size and flowering performance. Weather in a previous year may also have an affect on this year's show; if tulips suffer from a late spring freeze which damages foliage this can kill flower buds and result in lack of bloom the following year as well.
If you dig up one of your tulips, you will probably find that it has split into several smaller bulbs. If this is the case, you can dig up the bulbs after the leaves die back and replant them right away or store them in a cool ventilated spot for replanting in the fall. It may take a year or two to get good blooms again after division. For this reason, when tulips decline, many people just dig up the patch and start over by purchasing and planting new bulbs in the fall. Some gardeners actually have to treat tulips as annuals because they may have a yard with full shade, or small beds in which maturing tulip foliage takes up precious space.
When purchasing tulips in the future, keep in mind that certain types are better for perennializing (flowering more than one year). Even if you only expect one good show from the tulips you plant, Extension recommends early and mid-season tulips for Minnesota (Single and Double Early, Triumph and Darwin hybrids). By the time late season varieties bloom, our weather can be hot enough to significantly shorten the bloom time for each blossom; they may open one day then past their prime the next.
Botanical or species varieties and their hybridized strains are generally a good choice for perennializing if smaller flowers on delicate plants will suit your needs. Species recommendations for Minnesota include Tulipa aucheriana, T. batalinii and hydrids, T. celsiana, T. clusiana and hybrids, T. hageri, T. humilis and hybrids, T. kolpakowskiana, T. linifolia, T. marjoletti, T. maximowiczii, T. neustruevae, T. orphanidea, T. polychroma,T. praestans and hybrids, T. sylvestris, T. tarda, T. turkestanica, T. undulatifolia (aka eichleri), T. urumiensis and T. whittallii. Many of these species types bear multiple flowers per stem.
As for larger showy hybrids for Minnesota, consider red 'Charles', pink-red 'Christmas Marvel', or red 'Couleur Cardinal'. Triumph tulips such as pink 'Don Quichotte', and lily-flowered 'Aladdin' and 'Ballade' should be good for more than one season, as well as the tall Darwin hybrids, yellow 'Golden Parade', red 'Oxford', and orange-red 'Hollands Glorie'. Some suppliers offer a perennial tulip collection to help you choose rebloomers; including such hybrids as 'Red Parade', 'Ivory Floradale', 'Pink Impression', 'Golden Parade' and red/yellow 'Appledoorn Elite'.
Listed below are some other tips for helping suitable tulip species perennialize. These tips are also applicable to perennializing many other bulb species besides tulips.
Have the soil tested before planting bulbs, and amend it based on test results.
Plant tulips in a location with excellent drainage and full sun (6+ hours).
Don't plant tulips in a location where you have had trouble with other tulips in the past (disease)
Don't plant tulips where bulbs have disappeared previously.
If tunneling rodents get to your plantings, protect bulbs with sunken wire planting cages or try inter planting with bulbs that are distasteful to animals, such as daffodils or fritillaries.
Plant large hybrid tulip bulbs 8-10 inches deep. Plant species types at a depth of four times the height of the bulb if you have well drained soil.
Deadhead (remove) spent flowers before they set seed
If you cut bulb flowers for arrangements, remove only 1-2 leaves with the flower. Allow tulip foliage to yellow and die back naturally before removing it . (see the FAQ Hardy Bulb Care After Bloom)
Fertilize tulip bulbs annually (see the FAQ Fertilizing Hardy Bulbs).
If you wish to plant tulips among annuals or perennials to mask their dying foliage, choose low maintenance plants that don't require lots of water and fertilizer when tulips do not. Tulips cannot survive being planted beneath annuals which receive a constant supply of liquid fertilizer all summer.
Be careful when cultivating near tulips when they are dormant; wounding a bulb can lead to rot.
Don't remove bulb foliage until it begins to yellow. This may mean you need to protect tulip foliage from hungry rabbits and deer with fencing. Don't bind, braid or flatten bulb foliage while it is maturing.
Top dress with bulb fertilizer once a year.
Water the bulb bed in the fall if weather has been droughty. Soil should remain moist until the ground freezes.
For more information on any of these topics, check the other bulb FAQs, or the following Extension articles:
