Tulip

Tulip bulbs simply stay in the ground in the bed. They are fully hardy and even need the cold stimulus for flowering in spring; just provide free-draining soil, because waterlogging harms more than frost. Put container tulips, by contrast, somewhere cool but frost-free (e.g. a garage), because pots freeze through from all sides.

The easiest way to propagate tulips is by offset bulbs (daughter bulbs), which form at the side of the mother bulb during the growing phase. Wait until the foliage has died back completely and turned yellow. That is usually in June, about six to eight weeks after flowering. Then carefully dig the bulbs up with a garden fork on a dry day, separate the offset bulbs with your fingers or a clean knife and store them over summer cool, dry and dark. In autumn (October to November) you plant mother and offset bulbs in their new place. The planting depth should be about twice the bulb diameter (around 10 to 15 cm for large bulbs), pointed end up. Smaller offset bulbs usually need two to three years before they can flower, and in the first spring often show only a tuft of leaves; larger ones flower sooner. Sowing is not recommended for garden tulip hybrids: seedlings do not come true and need five to seven years to first flowering.