Hi In the fall of 2007, I planted several hundred tulip and daffodil bulbs and last spring ('08) I had an amazing display. This spring I notice however that many of the bulbs are well up with lots of large leaves but no flowers. Are there different kinds oif tulips and daffs, some being annuals and others perenials or is there something I can do for next year to produce better blooming results ? John
As far as I know daffs come back each year. However they like sun. Mine have slowly stopped flowering over the years as they got into more and more shade from growing trees. They still produce leaves. The commercial growers up the road lift them each couple of years and re plant probably to make them flower better Re tulips around here that are grown commercially and as far as I can tell are lifted in Autumn (early) and then replanted for spring. The instructions on this page are for Southern Hemisphere so you will need to reverse http://www.tesselaar.net.au/growingguides/tulipbulb.asp http://www.bulbsdirect.com.au/growing/templategrowing.asp?viewitem=Daffodil This page is from the grower just up the road http://www.daffodilbulbs.com.au/Download/Bulb Planning Guide.pdf Liz
Hi John, Daffs are perennials and will bloom every year. Over time they will produce more bulbs. If it becomes too shady both tulips and daffs may not bloom well. Another reason these bulbs fail to bloom is if you remove the green leaves after bloom. Those leaves feed the bulb for the following years bloom. Let the foilage yellow before removing the leaves. Some tulips are perennials and some are treated as annuals. It depends on which ones you planted. http://www.slate.com/id/2138844/ http://www.theplantexpert.com/springbulbs/Perennial.html http://www.bulb.com/templates/dispatcher.asp?page_id=snw_article_public&item=100&tg=public Newt
I once had a problem with narcissus bulb fly. Fertilization seemed to enable the small planting to overcome it. Many tulips sold are kept going by the growers using specific techniques - and are liable to diminish after being purchased and planted out under ordinary conditions. Catalogs may even advocate growing these as annuals, which of course would greatly increase sales if followed by many customers. Look for catalog listings of tulip varieties said to "perennialize".