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How to Grow Tulips: Planting, Care, and Tips for Vibrant Spring Blooms

multicolored tulips in a garden. red, pink, yellow, and orange
Botanical Name
Tulipa spp.
Grown as
Perennial
USDA Zones
3a
3b
4a
4b
5a
5b
6a
6b
7a
7b
Toxicity
Toxic
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Partial Sun
Water Needs
Moderate
Height
Under 1 foot
Spread
Under 1 foot
Soil pH
Acidic
Neutral
Bloom Time
Spring
Flower Color
Green
Multicolor
Orange
Pink
Purple
Red
White
Yellow
Special Features
Container-Friendly
Cut Flower
Resilience
Cold Hardy
Plant Type
Bulbs
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Long live the tulip! These beautiful jewels brighten our days in spring. We truly look forward to seeing those blue-green leaves start to emerge as Earth awakens from its winter sleep! 

Here are our tips on how to grow and care for tulips in your garden.

Tulips typically begin emerging from the ground in late winter or early spring. If unseasonably mild weather causes premature growth in winter, the danger is not as great as it may seem. Tulips (and daffodils, too) are quite cold-tolerant. If freezing winter temperatures return, it may delay growth, however. Snow is actually helpful in this case, as it can insulate the foliage from extreme cold. 

Plant in the Fall for Spring Blooms!

Tulip bulbs are planted in the autumn, 6 to 8 weeks before the ground freezes. You can have tulips blooming from early to late spring by planting varieties with different bloom times. Some types are suitable for forcing into bloom indoors, and most are excellent for use as cut flowers, too.

Tulip flowers are usually cup-shaped with three petals and three sepals. Every setting has a tulip, from small “species” tulips in naturalized woodland areas to larger tulips that fit formal garden plantings from beds to borders. The upright flowers may be single or double and vary in shape from simple cups, bowls, and goblets to more complex forms. Heights range from 6 inches to 2 feet. One tulip grows on each stem, with two to six broad leaves per plant.

Are Tulips Annual or Perennial Bulbs?

Although tulips are technically perennial, many centuries of hybridizing have resulted in weakening the bulb’s ability to return year after year. Therefore, many gardeners treat them as annuals, planting new bulbs every autumn. The North American climate and soil can’t replicate the ancient Anatolian and southern Russian conditions of their birth. Gardeners in the western mountainous regions of the U.S. come closest to this climate and may have more success perennializing their tulips.

Planting

Where to Plant Tulips

Tulips prefer full sun or afternoon sun. In Zones 7 and 8, choose a shady site or one with morning sun only, as tulips don’t like a lot of heat.

The soil must be well-draining, neutral to slightly acidic, fertile, and dry or sandy. All tulips dislike areas with excessive moisture. Prepare the garden bed by using a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost.

Shelter tall varieties from strong winds.

When to Plant Tulips

Plant tulip bulbs in fall, once the soil has cooled but before the ground freezes. Give them time to develop roots before winter. Your first fall frost is not the planting deadline—you can still plant afterward if the ground remains workable.

Timing depends on where you garden:

  • Cold-winter regions: Plant during fall as soils cool. October is ideal in Iowa, for example; tulips can still be planted later if the ground hasn’t frozen.
  • Mild-winter regions: Planting may extend into late fall or early winter. Local recommendations vary: Georgia Extension gives October through late December for spring-flowering bulbs, while LSU recommends late December or early January for pre-chilled tulips in its Louisiana guidance.<p>

Where winters don’t provide enough cold, tulip bulbs may need pre-chilling to bloom. Buy pre-chilled bulbs or follow your supplier’s refrigeration instructions for your varieties and climate. Recommended chilling periods vary, so no single refrigerator schedule suits every gardener. Keep bulbs away from ripening fruit, and plant promptly after chilling.

For more on choosing and planting spring-flowering bulbs, see our fall bulb planting guide.

Buying bulbs early gives you the best selection, but you don’t need to plant them in warm soil immediately. Until planting time, store them in a cool, dry place. If you’re running late, plant while the ground is still workable rather than saving the bulbs until spring.

Missed fall planting? See our advice on planting tulip bulbs in winter.

How to Plant Tulips

  1. Check the planting depth. Plant larger garden tulips 6 to 8 inches deep, measured from the bulb’s base to the soil surface. Smaller species tulips generally need a depth of 3 to 5 inches. Follow the instructions for your bulbs.
  2. Adjust for your soil. In heavy clay, you can plant bulbs 1 to 2 inches shallower than the usual recommended depth. Good drainage is still essential; shallower planting won’t solve a waterlogged bed. Avoid adding small amounts of sand to clay soil to improve drainage.
  3. Space the bulbs. Allow 4 to 6 inches between larger tulips and about 3 to 4 inches between smaller types. Plant in groups for a generous splash of spring color.
  4. Set each bulb pointed end up. Backfill with soil and water thoroughly to settle the soil around the bulbs and encourage root growth. Avoid leaving the soil soggy.

Yellow tulips in a tulip garden

Growing

  • Water when needed. If fall weather is dry, water as needed until the ground freezes. During spring growth and flowering, check the soil and water when it becomes dry. Rain may provide enough moisture, but an occasional shower isn’t always enough.
  • Avoid soggy soil. Tulips need good drainage throughout the year. Once the foliage dies back and the bulbs become dormant, avoid keeping the bed wet with frequent summer irrigation.
  • Fertilize only as needed. Bulbs contain the stored energy for their first spring’s flowers. If you grow tulips for just one season, fertilizer generally isn’t necessary. For established plantings, use soil-test recommendations to guide feeding and follow the fertilizer label. 
  • Remove faded flowers, but leave the leaves. If you want tulips to return next year, snip off spent blooms before they form seeds. Let the foliage turn yellow and die back naturally before removing it—those green leaves help the bulb store energy for next spring’s flowers.  

Field of red-pink tulips

Harvesting

Cut tulips just before the buds fully open. Leave some of the foliage behind to build up energy in the bulb for the next year’s growth. Recut the stems at an angle before placing them in a vase. Tulips continue to grow after being cut and are phototropic, reaching toward the light. Rotate the vase daily to keep stems upright. 

Change the water daily, and tulips will last about 7 days in a vase. To get a long vase life of at least a week, cut stems diagonally and wrap the upper two-thirds of the stems (with flowers) in a newspaper funnel. Stand in cool water up to the funnel for 1 to 2 hours, recut stems, and set in fresh water.

Pests and Problems

Protecting Tulips From Animals 

Squirrels and chipmunks may dig up newly planted bulbs, while voles and mice may eat them underground. Moles can disturb plantings through their tunneling, but they do not eat tulip bulbs. 

  • To discourage digging, cover the planting area with chicken wire or hardware cloth. Where underground bulb-eating animals are a problem, buried hardware-cloth cages can help protect the bulbs.

Pests

Other Problems

Types

Tulip flowers may be single, double, ruffled, fringed, or lily-shaped, depending on the variety.

  • ‘Cracker’: purple, pink, and lilac petals; midseason bloomer
  • ‘Ile de France’: red blooms on stems to 20 inches tall; midseason bloomer
  • ‘Marilyn’: large, ruffled, candy cane-colored flower; late-season bloomer
  • ‘Spring Green’: creamy-white petals feathered with green; late-season bloomer
  • ‘Renown’: hot pink, egg-shaped flower; late-season bloomer 

Wild, or “species,” tulips are small in size, ranging in height from 3 to 8 inches. They are tougher than hybrids. Rock and herb gardens are ideal places to plant them. They look stunning when planted in large groupings. 

  • For early to midspring bloom time: Tulipa bakeri, T. batalinii, T. humilis, T. kaufmanniana, T. turkestanica
  • For later blooming time: T. linifolia, T. neustreuvae, T. sprengeri, T. vvedenskyi
  • For multicolor varieties: T. biflora, T. greigii ‘Quebec’, T. praestans ‘Fusilier’ and ‘Unicum’, T. tarda, T. turkestanica
  • For a container: T. kaufmanniana ‘Goudstuk’
  • For (mottled) foliage: T. greigii (mottled or striped), T. fosteriana ‘Juan’, T. kaufmanniana ‘Heart’s Delight’
  • For fragrance: T. aucheriana, T. biflora, T. saxatilis, T. sylvestris, T. turkestanica
  • For warmer regions: Lady tulip (T. clusiana), Candia tulip (T. saxatilis), and Florentine tulip (T. sylvestris) overwinter in the South or mild-winter areas of the West (Zones 8 to 10) without the need of a chilling period

There are so many beautiful varieties of tulips. Explore catalogs and experiment in your garden!

Wit and Wisdom

  • Tulips, and the word for them, come from the Far East: Tulip comes from the Turkish word tülbent, meaning turban, and can be further traced back to the Persian word dulband, meaning round.
  • Did you know: If you dig up a tulip bulb in late summer, it’s probably not the same bulb you planted last fall—it’s her daughter. Even while the tulip is blossoming, the bulb is dividing for the next generation.
  • In 17th-century Holland, the new tulip was such the rage and fashion that a handful of bulbs was worth about $44,000.
  • Red tulips symbolize a declaration of love. Explore more flower meanings here.

Bulbs

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening, so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Pamela G</span> Wed, 04/08/2015 - 10:36
I live in Scotland. A couple of days ago I bought potted tulips at a garden centre. I brought them home, put them in another pot and they have all fallen over. What is the cause of this and is there anything I can do?
<span>Judy Judy</span> Tue, 04/07/2015 - 15:59
can you leave bulb of tulips in ground year round
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 04/08/2015 - 06:53

Most tulips bloom in the spring. These bulbs are cold-hardy and they can be left in the ground year-round.  If you have summer-blooming bulbs, they you can leave them the ground if you live in a warm climate but you need to dig them up if you live in a cold climate.

 <span>Tonia</span> Tue, 04/07/2015 - 12:35
I just got a purple and red tulips as a plant and am wondering how to care for them. They are already have bloomed and the soil is still a bit damp. Please reply asap. I don't want them to die as they are so pretty. Thanks for your quick response.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 04/08/2015 - 06:56

Tulips have one flower per bulb. When the flower is done blooming, you can "deadhead" the bloom but don't cut the leaves. Continue to water the plant and keep the soil moist--and let the leaves die back naturally. The tulips will return next spring! Every few years, you need to dig up the bulbs and divide. See above for more information.

 <span>Cynthia S. Horsman</span> Mon, 04/06/2015 - 10:39
Several years ago, I planted tulip bulbs with no results. Once again, I planted tulip bulbs in the fall. Once again, I've not gotten any flowers. I do have one bulb that has sprouted foliage. I live in Zone 6 in southern West Virginia. I am so frustrated and wondering what I am doing wrong.
<span>Barry Wood</span> Tue, 04/21/2015 - 13:09
As the staff stated, most likely your tulip bulbs were eaten by chipmunks. My new technique to combat the chipmunks is to spray the bulbs with RoPel (or another brand of rodent repellent) before planting. It appears to have worked wonderfully with the bulbs that I planted last fall & winter. The other possibility is that the spot where you planted your bulbs was water-logged over the winter and the bulbs rotted. Tulip bulbs must have adequate drainage to avoid rot. I have had good results digging the bed down to about 15 inches deep where I intend to plant tulips, and filling it halfway up with a mixture of sand, compost and ordinary soil before planting the bulbs.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 04/07/2015 - 17:34

Hi Cynthia,

You may have some critters that eat or move your bulbs. Plant the bulbs in containers or add some gravel or use chicken wire in the planting hole if you plant the bulbs in the ground.

 <span>Ddl1962</span> Sat, 04/11/2015 - 12:46
Can you please describe how to use the chicken wire in this application?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 04/15/2015 - 10:06

To protect bulbs, just lay chicken wire or any wide wire mesh on top of the bed after you plant the bulb. Extend the surface about 3 feet from the plantings, then stake it down.