Likkerlokker's Inbox

Hi Buzzbee - have a look at my pictures - I have 3 varieties of tulips in my island bed, which is all herbaceous perennials. I planted them about 5 or 6 years ago. Originally planted 10 bulbs of each variety. They have flowered reliably since then and I now get about 3-5 flowers per each original bulb planted. I wouldn't bother with tulips if I had to lift and replant them each year - I simply wouldn't have the time. The only other thing I would add here is that I think it's a lot to do with the variety you use whether they come back a second year. The more 'highly bred' they are - minitures/frosted/striped/other weird-looking ones - the less likely they are to come back a second year. If you want them to come back, choose the big, tall 'bog-standard' ones that tend to come in solid colours - big yellow, red or white ones for example. Sarah.

This is an interesting question - I was given to believe that if you leave tulips in the ground that their flowering tends to diminish from season to season, so it's best to lift them and re-plant them in the late autumn in a spot that didn't have tulips in it the previous season. Is that nonsense? I did leave some dark tulips in the ground last year and compared to the ones I planted afresh in the autumn their flowers are noticeably smaller.

So, this year i am going to lift my tulips - if they have not died back by the time I am planting out other stuff, I'll lift them and put them in a spare bit of ground till they do die back and then lift and store till autumn.

I'm not saying that's necessarily the best thing to do Likkerlokker - just interested to see if anyone else thinks that's worth doing or is it a lot of fuss about nothing?

Have a look at my pictures - I have an island bed which is devoted to perennials, BUT also has tulips!! The tulips tend to be towards the front of the bed where they get the most sun, but they have done well there and are obviously happy in this setting. The perennials do eventually cover them by mid May, but doesn't seem to matter.

I would leave them in, these days lots of tulips only come once and then seem to disappear, the ones that keep repeat flowering are usually the old fashioned yellow tulip which can make good clumps in time.

Are the tulips planted deeply? If so, there's no reason for removing them - as Xela says, avoid them - easily done by marking where they are with little sticks or plant labels while you can still see the leaves!

Have you been in the habit of removing them ? If I were in your shoes I would continue as you have been doing, but if you leave the bulbs in the ground, take care to avoid them as far as possible when you plant the perennials.
Do let us know how you get on. :-)