spring bulbs- dig up or let rest for next year

I was wondering if spring bulbs (specifically crocus, daffodils, tulips and hyacinth) can be dug up and stored for next year when they have finished blooming or if they should be allowed to absorb energy from the sun in order to re- bloom next spring (like Amaryllis).

 

let them stay as they are - just cut the dried up flower stalk off and leave the green leaves.

the leaves is where the photosynthesis happens and that's what feeds the bulb for nice blooms next year.

most bulbs/rhizomes are left in the ground year-round. unless you have something that wouldn't survive the cold temps and freezing ground - gladiola, for example.

 

If you just dead head them and then leave them they should be fine, my Daffs and tulips and Hyacinths all come up every year without me having to do too much to them. If I recall correctly and someone may tell me different, but the original bulb rots away but produces new bulbs which are what spring up in subsequent years, the original bulb lasting maybe 2 seasons, unless you dig them up let them dry out and reshoot and replant them next spring.

Generally though they do seem to multiply with very little effort on my part. (Hyacinths are a bit different to Daffs and tulips)

Nath

 

The leaves do look like hell while they are dying down, though, which may be what is driving your question. Tulip foliage in particular drives me batty, because the leaves are big enough and thick enough to damage/obscure newly-emerging perennials beside them and because they seem to provide habitat for cutworms. For this reason I have put many of my bulbs in pots that I can tuck away or at least keep out of the flower beds once their blooming is done.

Sun is not a necessity during their dormant phase although it may boost bloom for some types. The key is, as Joclyn says, to leave the leaves on.

 

The process you are describing is the combination of the natural growth characteristics of a corm (crocus) and the typically inappropriate garden culture of a tulip.

A corm exhausts itself during flowering but a new corm develops on top of the old one during the leaf stage of growth. The old one typically rots away. Crocuses grow like this.

As for 2 season bulbs....Tulips are usually the ones accused of this. It's a result of a wetter climate or irrigated garden, both of which are inappropriate for tulips which originate from hot dry summer climates like Turkey. The bulb simply peters out after a couple of wet summers. Keep the tulips dry in summer, and the individual bulbs will continue to thrive. Daffodils will do the same thing if you keep them too dry as they are typically from moist summer climes.

Simon

 

If your folage is looking a bit ratty and soft as for example on the daffodils gather them together and create a loose knot. Bit like a girl curls up a pony tail. I don't cut leaves till they fall off themselves. Not sure if you can do this with tulips as I don't grow them. Next time I am over where they grow the tulips commercially I will have a look but I suspect they just leave them.
Liz

 

The reason I was wondering this is because I was considering putting together a basket of mini spring bulbs to bring inside early next year. I got the idea from seeing these sold at flower stands. I guess you just put the basket together and leave it out all winter then bring inside the house when you want it to bloom.

I have marked the flowers I want to take from the garden for the basket and I was wondering if I could take them up and store them, but it sounds like a better idea is to put the basket together after blooming, while I can still tell what the bulbs is (without cutting anything back) and let it soak up the sun all summer.

Has anyone tried to do this kind of basket? Any tips?

Thanks

 

I f you don't like the foliage left by the Tulips and daffs once they have died off, one trick of the old gardners around here in nottingham is to bend back the stem until its double over and tie them off, thus reducing the height of the plant and bringing all the leaves together, then once they start to yellow, they chop off the foliage around 1 -2 inches above the ground. By the time they have started to yellow enough goodness must have gone back into the bulbs as they always give beautiful blooms the next spring.

Nath

 

For a basket of indoor flowers, it would be best to buy fresh hyacinth and tulip bulbs--they tend to decline the second year. Digging some daffodils or crocuses would work fine, but I'd suggest using some of the smaller narcissus varieties with short stems (they're good in gardens partly because they don't grow those huge masses of leaves)

smivies is right about tulips. Many of them are descended from dry-climate species and like wet spring weather and hot, dry summers. Some of the species seem to do nicely in places like Wyoming.

 

kind of a related question here:

I forced some crocuses this year, and now they are all foliage that is starting to wither. What do I do with them? Can I plant them at in the garden at this stage, or do I need to store them somewhere til fall. My inclination is just to toss them out there and let them do their whole nature thing, but since I have already messed with their natural cycle, I am not sure how that will work out.

Any ideas?

 

In Portland, I think it would be warm enough outdoors to plop the crocuses out in the yard. I very much doubt they'd get confused and try to flower again.

Amaryllis (hippeastrum) purchased in the fall and flowering for Christmas/winter will adjust to late spring or early summer flowering very readily here in Florida.

One of the annoyances of living in Portland was that a fine bulb seller was in the habit of shipping in November because of the city's balmy climate. They forgot about the rain.

 

Around here it is autumn and they are just preparing the commercial bulb beds for planting. So if you can leave them where they are till autumn and keep them a little damp and then put them out they may well work for you next spring in the garden. If they are in a pot don't have them too wet just a little bit to keep the bulbs viable then dry it off as it gets closer to september oct (yr autumn) and then lift them to put out. Having said all that if you are a really cold snowy place maybe that won't be right. The other alternative would be to keep them in the pot and replant them with new soil in autumn and have your flowers that way.
Liz

 

If you want to grow Daffs in hanging baskets there are some very pretty types of minature Daffodils, which grow very well in baskets so long as you don't let them get too dry, they are also very cold and frost tolerant but very pretty in early spring, i have 3 or 4 varieties growing in my garden, some in the beds and others in tubs. They especially look nice when combined with purple crocus and minature tulips, the knack is trying to get them all to flower around the same time.

Nath

 

So from the replies, I gather that since I am in a wetter climate I would have to worry about my tulips rotting if they stay wet during the summer, but this isn't the case for other spring bulbs (esp. hyacinth, daffs, crocus)?

If this is correct then I need to leave the foliage after deadheading on all spring bulbs and when the foliage turns yellow I should dig up the tulips for storage but I can leave the others all year round?

Is this how others in Vancouver treat their spring bulbs?

 

Vancouver is fairly dry in the summer but if you're irrigating, it obviously won't be that dry. Moist summer conditions will cause the tulips to diminish each year rather than just vanish. Wet conditions may be more problematic.

Crocus have similar needs to tulips but it's not as critical & I wouldn't worry about them.

Your plan of action is sound & I might add, dedicated. I imagine most people just leave the tulips alone & replace them when flowering diminishes OR throw them out each spring after flowering in order to plant annuals.

 

I keep both my tulip and daff bulbs in all year round. They seem to multiply year after year. The only tulips I seem to lose are to the squirrels. (the squirrels avoid the daff bulbs, so if you surround the tulips with a circle of daffs, they won't touch them.)

I do however pull up the gladiolas after the bloom has died off