My beef with tulips

 Ok so it's not a secret that I love plants. They just make me happy I can't explain it. They have their own personalities.

My favorite flower is a sunflower- and they were my favorite before they were cool. I feel like when I say that now it's almost a cliche. Anyway- I always say in a bouquet of roses I'm a sunflower. 

My husbands favorite flower is a tulip. Now don't get me wrong- despite what I've titled this post I like tulips but I have a bit of a beef with them. 

...........They bloom for like a hot second and then they're done....................And, god forbid, you live in the Midwest and it freezes one night in spring they're done........

There I said it! 

But to be fair- they are pretty and there are a lot of variety 

These are tulips from our yard in 2020 

But, like I said, god forbid it snows and you end up with this:

Cool picture- sad tulip :(

That being said- I'm totally nerding out and I'm super excited to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival next year in our new state! It looks sooooo pretty! 

But seriously! How cool is that?!? Tulips in the foreground, mountains in the background- can't get much better 

Anyway I've planted a fair amount of tulips over the past few years and here are my tips and tricks for having great tulips!

1. Get nice bulbs- don't buy cheap from amazon. Been there done that. You don't have to go crazy and spend a ton of money. I find the ones from your local hardware/garden store work well. If you want super unique nice ones I would recommend Dutch Gardens. 

2. Location: 

Pick a spot that gets full sun (sun for at least 8 hours per day) 

They get about a foot tall so keep that in mind. I try to plant mine toward the front of a garden bed 

 

3. Planting: 

Plant in November- we usually plant around thanksgiving- you want it to be cold and stay cold but not so cold that the ground is frozen

Instead of digging individual holes Max recommends digging a trench roughly 6 inches deep.  

Place the bulbs roughly an inch apart (it’s not an exact science so just eyeball it) 

Place the bulbs pointy side up- the roots of the tulip on are on the opposite side of the pointy side.  

Cover it with the soil that you used to dig up.

Biggest mistake that people make- not burying them deep enough. Then the tulips come up to early and die quickly when old man winter comes back. The tulips react to the ground temperature so if they are only buried  an inch or two down the will start germinating if you have a good day or two in February, but by keeping them deep they come up later and have less chance of getting snowed on or frozen over. 

My average bloom time for tulips is about 2-3 weeks so enjoy them while you have them. Thankfully they come back every year so they are a good investment. 

Do any of you have a beef with tulips (or other flowers)?