Tulip Bulbs: Let Them Cool Their Heels and Then Plant
Let’s talk tulips. This is the weekend marked on my calendar to do something, rain or shine, before the bulbs are too picked over at the nursery. And it works out that six weeks from now is a perfect time to plant them, and six weeks in the fridge are required before you can plant them.
If you’ve already bought your tulips and they’ve spent some time in the refrigerator, don’t plant yet--it’s still too warm--just let them sit, cooling their heels a little longer.
Keeping these bulbs cool is the only secret to growing them. Even though they are native to the Mediterranean (though mostly to the cool mountains of the Middle East), the Dutch have been hybridizing and growing them for so long that tulips are Dutch bulbs in most minds and definitely want a Dutch winter. If the bulbs get too warm at any point, things go awry, so the first step is to put the bulbs in the fridge.
Put them in the vegetable bin so they don’t freeze by accident, and let them sit for at least six weeks. Just leave them in the paper bags you used to collect the bulbs at the nursery. This gives the bulbs an artificial winter--they could be in Holland for all they know.
You don’t want to plant them while the days are so warm, but it’s not too early to plan where to plant them and to set aside the space.
Though tulips are most often planted in large beds by themselves, even a dozen makes spring a little special. This is how I plant, a dozen here and a dozen there, scattered among the other fall flowers. As I go about the rest of my fall planting I set aside little areas about the size of a nursery flat that will later be planted with a dozen bulbs. (A dozen tulip bulbs need an area about 18 by 24 inches.) I wouldn’t plant a whole bed to them because the flowers only stay open for a week, a glorious week to be sure, but a very short time compared to other spring flowers.
And then there are so many to choose from that it would be difficult to settle on just one. Since they stand up tall and straight like palace guards, I take advantage of this pillar-like form and plant them near things that are low and bushy for the contrast--surrounded by pansies, for instance--which will bloom before and long after the tulips.
When you do plant--any time from Dec. 27 into early January--the soil will be as cool as it is going to get, but to make sure the bulbs don’t get too warm on those occasional hot days in January and February, plant them deep so they have an insulating blanket of soil over them.
Don’t Cheat on Depth
The hole should be eight inches deep, so six inches of soil cover the bulb. That’s a deep hole for a bulb, and don’t cheat, or you may have tulips blooming on very short stems, which is what happens when the bulbs get too warm--a frequent sight in Southern California gardens.
They should be planted quite close together. A rule of thumb here is to space the bulbs about two bulbs apart, that is, so there is a space equal to the width of two bulbs between each bulb. Err in the direction of planting them too close rather than too far apart or they will look spotty. (In containers, plant them so they touch and are just under the soil.)
If you’re only planting a dozen here and a dozen there, dig one big hole and plant the whole dozen in it. Put a punch of bulb fertilizer under each bulb, then a little soil, or you might want to set them on a cushioning inch of sand to help insure that the bulbs don’t get too wet at their base.
Since the weather promises to be a little cooler but still pleasant this weekend, this is a good time to finish up the fall planting of flowers and other bulbs. Just remember to save a little space for those tulips in the refrigerator.
