Are Tulips Annual or Perennial?
A bulb that comes back every year, often with more blooms than before, is called a perennial. Great examples are daffodils and crocuses. Bulbs that only grown for one season are called annuals, which means that you have to plant new bulbs every year to get the same effect.
But, if tulips are perennials, like all the books and websites say, then why do they often not come back to show their luster a second or third season? What is going on here?
Perennial, but only in the right places
Well, as regal as tulips are, they are also a bit rebellious. Yes, they are officially perennials, but just not everywhere or for everyone. A tulip will happily come back year after year, but only if your garden happens to be in a village in the foothills of Nepal, or a town on the steppes of Armenia and Northern Iran. These places have very cold winters and hot dry summers, exactly what tulips need to perform at their perennial best.
Dutch soil and Dutch engineering.
But…if these places are so great for tulips, then why do all the best tulips come from Holland? This is where ingenuity and engineering come in to play. We Dutch tulip growers have two things working in our favor: beautiful sandy soil, and a century old tradition of being able to control water and make it do whatever we want.
This combination of soil and savvy means that we can create bulbs that return every year.
But the second part of this tulip trickery is a bit more involved: If you want to sell new bulbs every year, you also want your original bulb to multiply each season.
In order to entice tulip bulbs to do all of that for us, we put our bulbs through a complex process of heat and humidity treatments before we plant them in fall, trying to replicate the tulip’s native habitat as perfectly as possible, even when it’s almost 5000 miles away. We make the bulbs believe they have been through a hot, dry summer and an arctic winter. All of this requires expensive climate control systems, as well as serious know-how and experience.
Help your tulips come back next season
So, if you don’t live in Eastern Persia or Himchal Pradesh, your best bet is to buy new bulbs every year. That way you are guaranteed a spring full of the explosive colors and velvety blooms of your favorite tulips.
However, you can still do certain things to nudge some of your tulips away from their annual sulk, and give them a chance to show some perennial power:
- The first thing to consider is tulip variety. DutchGrown sells tulips that are specifically suited for naturalizing/perennializing. The most suitable breeds are tulips that have not been cross bred too much: Botanical tulips and their hybridized variations.
- As always, you want to plant your tulips in a well-drained area. The wetter the soil, the sooner the bulbs will succumb to fungus, disease and rot, so make sure water can drain away easily.
- To expose your bulbs to that bitter winter cold they need to experience to truly get going in spring, plant your tulips deep, about 8 inches.
- To spur on the first growth and get them to develop a strong and healthy root system, water your tulips right after planting.
- If you want your bulbs to gain maximum strength for their second (or even third) round, cutting off the flower heads at the right time is key. But don’t cut off the green foliage! Allow it to die and whither naturally. That way the energy that is stored in the foliage will gradually ‘flow back’ into the bulb, helping it to pack a punch next spring.
- A last way to support your reluctant perennials, is to fertilize their soil in fall ánd in spring. DutchGrown bulbs have more than enough food and energy in them to give you a great show in their first season, so they won’t need any fertilizing then. But if you want a second act, you need low nitrogen fertilizer, ideally special bulb fertilizer. In spring, when the first shoots stick out their heads, you can add a high-nitrogen, fast-release fertilizer, to give your returning favorites the final boost they need to do well, even when they are so far away from ‘home’.
Get Great Perennializers
A great example of returning tulips, where the hybrids are actually even stronger ‘perennializers’ than their originator species, are the Darwin Hybrids in red, orange, yellow, apricot, pink and two-tone colors. Other tulips that will react favorably to your perennializing help are Emperor Tulips, Triumph Tulips and Miniature Tulips. Buy them now, plant them in the fall, and get the best blooms coming spring (and the spring after that, and the spring after…)!
FAQs
Are tulips perennials or annuals? Technically, all tulips are perennials that have the ability to survive winter and grow again the following year. However, some types of tulips have been bred to unfurl the largest, showiest blooms the first spring after planting the bulbs the previous fall.
Will tulips come back every year? ›
If you are new to planting tulips, you might have heard that they dependably come back every year, but that isn't always the case. You need to plant perennial tulip varieties, which pop back up season after season for beautiful spring blooms.
Can you leave tulip bulbs in the ground all year? ›
While you do not need to dig and divide your tulips every year; they should be dug up at least 3-4 years if planted in the ground. If you are not digging them up yearly, make sure they are not in an area of the yard where they will be watered all summer. Too much water over the summer will rot/kill your bulbs.
Will tulip bulbs multiply? ›
Up to five small bulbs can be expected to grow out of the mother bulb.
Which tulips are true perennials? ›
A few border tulips, like the Darwin hybrid tulips, Fosteriana tulips, and Kaufmanniana tulips are known to rebloom reliably.
How can you tell if a tulip is annual or perennial? ›
Are tulips perennials or annuals? Technically, all tulips are perennials that have the ability to survive winter and grow again the following year. However, some types of tulips have been bred to unfurl the largest, showiest blooms the first spring after planting the bulbs the previous fall.
What happens if you don't dig up tulip bulbs? ›
If you do plant your tulips bulbs late then this may results in smaller blooms. Can you leave tulip bulbs in the ground all year? There is no real reason to dig up tulips bulbs each year, or at all. Most gardeners leave their bulbs in the ground where they were originally planted, and, are left to rebloom.
Should I deadhead tulips? ›
deadheading. To deadhead tulips, cut the stem off just above the leaves. It is important to deadhead tulips, as this encourages the plant to put its energy into making bulbs for the next season, rather than seedheads.
Should I dig up tulips after they bloom? ›
What to Do With Tulips After They Bloom To Encourage Re-flowering. To encourage your tulips to bloom again next year, remove the seed heads once the blooms have faded. Allow the foliage to die back naturally then dig up the bulbs about 6 weeks after blooming. Discard any damaged or diseased ones and let them dry.
Do tulips need full sun? ›
Where to Plant Tulips. Tulips require full sun for the best display, which means at least 6 hours of bright, direct sunlight per day. They also prefer fast-draining soil and, consequently, make excellent additions to rock gardens.
Usually just one. Some species may have more than one flower bud in the bulb, or over time multiple, or side bulbs may form, but usually with tulips, one flower per bulb. Why ? Probably genetically, the bulbs tend to just form a single stem, not like daffodils which often have side bulbs or offsets.
Do deer eat tulips? ›
It is sad but true that Tulip and Lily flowers are favored deer bon-bons. Deer may patiently wait to dine until spring buds have puffed into full glory, or until the flowers open. On a shorter scale, rabbits may munch on developing stems and foliage, and on the flowers of low varieties.
Why didn't my tulips come up this year? ›
Now, the first culprit could simply be too much or too little agua for our thirsty bulbs. Tulips need just the right amount of hydration when pushing up those stems and leaves. Too dry and they'll have a hard time breaking through. But overly soggy soil can rot them from the get-go.
What is the rarest color of tulips? ›
They can be grown in practically any colour, from snowy white to purples so dark they are almost black. The only colour tulips aren't available in is blue. Blue is one of the rarest colours in flowers, and despite breeders' best efforts, 'blue' tulips are usually more purple or lilac.
How many years do tulips last? ›
Plant new tulip bulbs in the fall. While most modern tulip cultivars bloom well for three to five years, some tulip types (classes) bloom well over a longer period. Darwin hybrid tulips are generally the longest blooming hybrid tulip. Fosteriana tulips (also known as Emperor tulips) also bloom well for many years.
Do tulips stay in bloom all summer? ›
Tulip bulbs are classified as early and mid-season tulips. Bloom times will depend on your location and the weather but, as a rule, early tulips will bloom from March to April and mid-season types will extend the blooming period later into spring. If the weather is cool, tulips may last 1-2 weeks.
What do you do with tulips after they bloom? ›
What to Do With Tulips After They Bloom To Encourage Re-flowering. To encourage your tulips to bloom again next year, remove the seed heads once the blooms have faded. Allow the foliage to die back naturally then dig up the bulbs about 6 weeks after blooming. Discard any damaged or diseased ones and let them dry.
How long do potted tulips last? ›
How Long Do Tulips Last When Cut and Potted? Potted tulips may last longer if well taken care of. The duration can extend up to a few weeks.
Do tulips grow back if you cut them? ›
When you cut the bloom and stem away from the bulb, the bulb has no way to photosynthesize and re-energize itself. While the bulb may produce leaves/foliage the following spring, it's unlikely it will ever bloom again.
