Tulip Care - Why You Should Prune Post-Bloom

Tulips are quite attractive both as unharvested blooms and as cutflowers. They can also be very expensive; but sadly, their blooming season is too short and most bulbs cannot be reused the following year. What specific tulip care should you perform, therefore, to get the most out of your tulip bulbs?

Tulips normally bloom in spring, commencing on the first week of April through the month of June. Usually, tulips bloom for a span of about 2 weeks, after which their petals slowly curl up and wilt. Even expert gardeners cant claim that tulip care is easy because nurturing them takes up a lot of time.

However, if they are correctly maintained, the bulbs can still be used the following year. This way, youll spend less money replanting with fresh bulbs. How is this done? The secret lies in "deadheading" the flowers that have wilted.

Deadheading means cutting off the seed pod, which remains after the petals have wilted and fallen off. This seed pod remains on the stem but it shouldnt even stay there because in a way, it deprives the bulb of important nutrients needed to sustain it.

Since the tulip wont bloom again after its approximately 2-week blooming period, the seed pod should then be removed at a point thats an inch below the pod using a pair of garden shears. After doing this, you can leave the plant alone until it naturally dries up. There is no need to water it, because you have to prune the yellowed stem and leaves too, up to ground level.

The bulbs would then lay dormant underground until the next planting season in autumn. Come July, take those bulbs out and remove the roots. Dry them out and place them in Ziploc bags in the freezer until its time to re-plant them. Give the bulbs some time to adjust to room temperature before placing them below ground.

You could get lucky with a few, while others may not re-grow at all. In any case, the blooms on your second year using re-used bulbs wont be as colorful or as vibrant, but it can still help fill up the plot. You can alternate old ones with new ones, and space them according to the effect you want to achieve.

Tulip care may be a lot of work for some but seeing the colorful and delicate blooms as they dance in the wind is enough compensation for all the hard work you put into your tulip garden.

Balva Rudick is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com

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