Do I have to dig up my tulips every summer?
No one ever likes the real answer to that question, so I'll simply go with the advice that it’s a good general practice. If you choose to ignore that advice, you will likely still get tulips next year, they just won't be as showy or as numerous as they were this year.
Before I tell you why, I should clarify that by ‘tulips’ I'm assuming you mean those brightly coloured botanical lollipops known as hybrid tulips and not the lesser known and more subtle (but no less beautiful) form we refer to as species tulips.
But more on those later.
Hybrid tulips should be dug up each summer and not just to give you one more gardening chore to keep you endlessly busy. No, there are a couple of reasons pulling them up. First, they are highly susceptible to root rot and a nasty fungal infection known as 'tulip fire', which can wipe out an entire bed of tulips in a matter of days. Digging up your bulbs each year after the leaves have completely yellowed allows you to inspect them for lesions and any other signs of imperfection. Toss anything that looks suspicious then place the rest in a well ventilated container in a cool, dark place until it comes time to plant them in the fall.
Alternatively, you can discard all of the bulbs you grew this year and start with a fresh batch come fall.
That's because the bulbs you buy in the store each fall have been grown in near perfect conditions and the flowers that pop up the following spring will reflect this. On the other hand, the flowers that pop up from any bulbs you keep and replant (or don't bother digging up) will reflect the growing conditions in your garden, which are likely not as perfect. As a result, the display you get in successive years won’t quite live up to the one you got during that first year.
Planting new bulbs each season is the best way to guarantee a spectacular show the following spring.
There are exceptions to this rule.
Remember the species tulips I mentioned above? They aren't as flashy as their hybridized cousins, but they also aren't as picky or prone to disease. Once planted, you don't need to worry about digging them up. They take care of themselves and will happily naturalize, spreading out and growing more impressive each year without any input on your part. Many can even tolerate higher temperatures than their hybridized cousins, making them the perfect bulb for xeriscaping.
If you've never grown species tulips, give them a try. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
Originally published in the Creston Valley Advance on June 18, 2009.
