If you want to be that neighbour that has beautiful BIG clay pots filled with tulips blooming next spring - then you're going to have to actually plant them. And now is the time. If you've always wanted but never get around to planting pots with bulbs, just DO it this year.
That's exactly what I've been saying to myself for the past 25 years and never once done it. That is without question an award worthy procrastination and I'd like to at least get credit for it since no one has thought to provide me with a trophy.
This week I picked my pots, got my tulip bulbs out (I bought them a month ago) and started planting.
It took no time at all, was actually fun and now I have something I'm really looking forward to in the spring.
Table of Contents
Tulip Type Tip
Bloom Time
If you want to have a mix of different tulips in the same pot make note of when they flower. Some are early flower, mid flowering or late flowering.
If you mix early and mid flowering all the tulips won't bloom at the same time but the display will last longer.
If you plant varieties that are all the same flowering season then you'll have a huge profusion of blooms all at once.
Facts like: bloom time, planting depth, sun requirements etc. will all be on the package or product page if you're buying them online.
So pay attention to the planting guide and check when your bulbs are likely to flower.
Flowering Time
Early bloomers tend to bloom for 1 week.
Mid season bloomers tend to bloom for 2 weeks.
Late blooming bulbs can bloom for up to 3 weeks.
How to Plant Tulips in Pots
For a spring explosion of pretty, you need some large pots (12" across or more), tulip or daffodil bulbs and some soil.
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Materials
- Clay pots - 12" across top or more
- Potting soil
- Tulip, daffodil, hyacinth, allium or star flower bulbs
- A place to keep them over the winter
Instructions
- Fill your clay pots with soil to within the recommended planting depth on the bulb package.
- Push the bulbs into the soil planting them as close together as you can if you want a FULL display.
- Double check that the depth of your tulips is what the package recommends, and that you've planted them all the same height. Fill with soil.
- Store the pots somewhere safe where they'll be cold but won't get wet. If they get wet and freeze the soil will expand and break the pots.
- I'm keeping mine in my unheated potting shed.
The tulips will go dormant for 14 weeks while they're cold. Once temperatures reach 60 ℉ (15℃) they'll start to grow.
Bring Your Pots Out of Storage
- You can remove your pots from storage and put them in a sunny spot once daytime temperatures reach 60℉ (15℃) or ...
- Watch for signs of sprouting. If you see sprouts breaking the surface take the pots out of storage and put them out in a sunny spot.
Care
Water the pots a couple of times a week. Be careful not to water log them. Once blooming is finished, fold the leaves over into a bundle and tie them so they're neat.
Leave them like that until the leaves die. Then you can dig the bulbs up, let the cure (dry) for a week or so and then store them in a cool dark spot until you can plant them in the ground in the fall like a regular bulb.
I don't have experience with this so I can't say for sure, but apparently tulips grown in pots are so stressed that they aren't likely to grow in that pot again next year. Of if they do they will be sad representations of themselves.
I still have one pot to fill and plant. I'm waiting on the tulip bulbs to arrive, but these are the ones I'm most excited about.
Tulips rarely look as beautiful as they do in their online "beauty shots". However, even a bad version of this will make me happy. It's a Rasta Parrot tulip that I ordered from a small shop in Toronto.
If you take a few minutes to plant tulips in pots, you'll be rewarded with a massive display of tulips that could last for weeks exactly when you need it, in the spring.
Amanda Miller
Hi Karen,
The catch with pots and bulbs is that if the bulbs freeze they will be done. The cells explode and turn to mush. Tulips need to be in well draining soil or they will rot. I have tried overwintering a plethora of bulbs in pots (I didn't know yet), in a plethora of ways and.. thumbs down with that spitting noise. No love in pots. However, you can throw the bulbs into the fridge over the winter and pot them up in the spring!
Good luck!
Karen
Hi Amanda. I'll let everyone know how it goes. It's gardening, all hell could break loose at any moment in a myriad of ways. ~ karen!
Jennifer
I am doing this too! Easy and gorgeous. Just put the pots away for the winter but oh well, going to add soil and bulbs and see what happens. Quick question: do we need to water them even once before we put them in the shed or garage, or leave them until bloom/weather tells us to get them out and then water?
Karen
Hi Jennifer. Whenever I keep something over the winter in my shed I make sure the soil is damp but not wet. Every once in a while I'll check the pot in the shed and water it if its drying out. You'll need to check on the bulbs in pots about once a month through the winter. ~ karen!
Jennifer
Thank you!
A.B.
Hello Karen!
I have been doing this for years with mixed success. I love hyacinths. I love their smell and try to force them every year (and have tried growing them in pots for the spring.) I have found that if I want to put hyacinths in pots, they need to be in a place where they do NOT freeze. I have had success putting them in my under the stairs cellar (~40-50 Fahrenheit). (The same place where I put all of my tropical tubers, bulbs and store my potatoes.) If I put the hyacinths in pots in my unheated garage (which can get down to 20 Fahrenheit), they always rot.
I can do the unheated garage for daffodils, paperwhites, and tulips, but not hyacinths. I can grow them in my Zone 4 ground outside, but they protest in pots.
Super wierd, don't know if anyone else has had this experience with them. Thank you Karen for reminding me that I need to get stuff potted! I always love reading your posts!
Karen
Thanks A.B. That's good to know about the hyacinths. I'll try to get some this week and pot them up to see what happens in the spring (as an experiment). ~ karen!
Connie
Thank you so much for this post! I have always wanted to do this and did not know how. Today's the day - already have white galanthes, red tulips and blue muscari. Perfect for Annapolis, MD., USA; once capitol of the nation and home of the US Naval Academy. I will let you know how it goes next spring.
Karen
I'll also let you know how it goes in the spring! ~ karen
Cara
Wow - I am going to do this. I have always been envious of tulips in pots - they make such a show and are just pretty amazing. Thanks!
Karen
I'm really, really excited to have finally done it! ~ karen
LEEANNE BLOYE
Karen, that is one of the best how-to-do-tulips-in-a-pot article I have ever read. You should get some sort of garden blogger award. To personal yet to the point and thank you for covering it all the way through to the following year.
★★★★
Susan
Thanks Karen. Going to try this.
The tulip pot would be spending the winter in my garage with a multitude of mice. Would it be OK to cover over the pot to prevent theft?
Karen
Hi Susan. Sure! Just take the cover off in March or April to start checking to see if they're sprouting. ~ karen!
Karen
Thanks LeeAnne! ~ karen!
Barb
I have you beat for the Procrastinator Award , sorry. But you have talked me into it. Now I have to go find tulip bulbs in the morning. I hope they still have some….but probably not, they probably got rid of them to make room for Christmas cards or something like that.
Karen
If you can't find them locally (most big box stores and hardware stores carry them) you can find them online as well. ~ karen!