DO TULIPS COME BACK EVERY YEAR? |The Garden of Eaden

Do Tulips come back every year?

Do Tulips come back every year should be a simple question to answer, and in some respects it is. As far as native species growing in their natural environments are concerned the answer is of course yes. The whole evolutionary point of the bulb is so that it can survive extended periods of harsh conditions, such as drought and high temperatures, by moving into a period of dormancy. Once conditions improve the bulb is triggered back into life and we have a growing, thriving tulip once more.

Do Tulips come back every year

When growing Tulips in northern Europe they question of whether Tulips come back every year can become a little greyer. As far as the commercial producers of Tulip are concerned they would like you to think that they are only annuals and indirectly promote them as such to generate year on year sales.

The thing is this, Tulips are native to a large region from Southern Europe to Central Asia which experiences hot dry summers and winters, with rain most likely experienced in the spring and autumn. So if your garden has similar conditions then congratulations your tulips should return year after year. In the green and pleasant lands of England we generally receive prolonged wet and freezing conditions which are not ideal for sustaining healthy Tulip bulbs. If you leave them in place then there is a risk that they will die after the first season, however you can do as the Victorian gardeners do and lift them for overwintering under protection they should mostly survive.

Alternatively you can try and create more conducive growing condition such as planting into well-drained raised beds in full sun and away from leaf fall. If you have a penchant for growing rare and unusual Tulip species then consider growing them in a large terracotta pot and providing a dormant period by leaving it in an unheated greenhouse once flowering has finished.

So to answer the question of do Tulip come back every year the answer is yes, sometimes yes and if you don't research and put the work in then possibly no.

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