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| What do you do with tulips after they die? |
Tulips are arguably the most bright and colourful of all spring flowering ornamental plants and (assuming they are not ravaged by slugs as they emerge from the soil) provide a gorgeous display, not only of hope for warmer weather, but of perfect lush foliage. This is also enhanced by the anticipation of the opening of their glorious buds. As with many of the best things in life the beauty of the tulip is short lived, so it isn't long before the petals fall and the foliage discolours. So the question is this, what to do with tulips after they die?
Of course once they have finished flowering and the foliage and stems fade they are not truly dead, they are just moving into the next phase of their seasonal existence. If the blooms have pollinated then the tulip will divert its energy into producing hopefully viable seeds. If not the plant is absorbing carbohydrates, nutrients and sugars back into the bulb to repurpose the following spring. Of course, it maybe that you tulip is actually dead and if that is the case , just throw it into a incinerator along with the surrounding soil to reduce the spread of any possible pest of pathogen.
As far as good horticultural practice goes, you don't need to do anything to the tulip after they die as they are quite capable of looking after themselves, assuming they have been positioned and planted in favourable conditions. Of course, any brown shriveled foliage or stems can be removed one the bulb has finished sucking the life out of them. However if you are gardening in an area of the country prone to freezing wet weather, or are cultivating weaker, virus colour-broken cultivars or even species unsuitable for overwintering in northern european climates then you need to get your hands dirty by lifting and storing.
Lifting and storing tulips
If you need to lift and store tulip bulbs then it's all about technique and timing. Once flowering has finished, dead-head you plants to prevent them from producing seeds as this is an energy sapping process for your bulb. The same energy which you will need for the following seasons display.
Once the foliage had turned yellow/brown your bulbs will be ready for lifting, choose a day when the soil is lovely and dry to aid lifting. Working with wet bulbs is no fun. Clean off the soil and discard and bulbs which are damaged or diseased. Place they bulbs in trays so that they are not touching and move to a warm (un-heated), dry, well-ventilated environment so that they can continue to dry off naturally. A temperature of between 18-20°C will be perfect.
Come the autumn your bulbs can be planted back into position once again, however if a flowering display is paramount, use these stored bulbs in less significan borders and new bulbs in prominent areas.
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