Expert: Long Island Gardener - 3/31/2008

Question
I was given a pot of purple tulips by my 2 little cousins after my Mother passed away, and told them I would do my best to keep them in my yard as a memory to Mom and them.   I planted the bulbs in my yard (last week) after they wilted back, and am now wodering if I should have.  We are in Central Texas, and winter is pretty much over.  I put them in a spot that has Paper Whites that are doing quite well, do they stand a chance? Should I do something diffrently / dig them back up?

Answer
Tulips unfortunately are not the most reliable of Spring bulbs.  I know, we all think of Tulips when invoking that yarn of optimism, Spring will come again.  And they are so beautiful, especially so after the gray days of Winter.  Who doesn't love Tulips in the Spring?  I'll bet your mother loved them, too.

These are cold weather flowers, with cold weather leaves and a cold weather constitution.  Sudden exposure to bitter cold damages them, but who knew?  And maybe you didn't damage them at all -- they may have already been spent.  Remember, they don't last forever.  Cool air in anything sustains them longer, but not eternally, and never as long as we wish.  They come, and they go.  That's the way God planned it.  The best care in the world for these is to put them outside, remove the spent blossoms asap, keep the leaves in the brightest sun you can afford them until they are brown and crisp.  Then lift them, put them in a paper bag (NOT a plastic bag -- paper!), and stick them somewhere cool and dark until LATE next fall.  Around Thanksgiving.  Which is perfect, because this is the time you will be thinking again about the people you love most.

Then plant them at least 12 inches deep, and mark the spot.  In Spring, they may sprout, they may not, they may bloom, they may never bloom again.  Life is never as simple as we want it to be.  So....

Get MORE!

Who's to say your mother would not love it this way!

Have you see these Purple Tulips?

Let me put this in perspective for you, dear.

Nancy, I get a LOT of questions from people who receive plants as gifts.  And they treasure these more than anything.  As much as the memory itself.  It is SO important to these people to take the best care of their treasured plants.  These are not ordinary potted houseplants to them.  They are so much more.  Just like yours.

Fact os. those memories will always be with us.  And often, even USUALLY, these plants do not last.  Even I, as Master Gardener, a person who has done some ridiculous things in the name of a green thumb, even I do not keep everything alive forever.  And some things I do wish I could get back.

My mother left me a 25-year-old Jade Tree, Nancy.  This little Bonsai was her pride and joy.  Being the one in the family with Gardener genes, it was natural that I would inherit this Jade tree... and I had it for almost 10 years.  It was the easiest thing to grow, took no care whatsoever, and I paid almost no attention to it.  But it was really a beautiful potted plant.  And I knew my mother loved it.  She was so proud of this plant, Nancy.  I could hear her voice every time I looked at it.  I could feel her standing right there, telling me what to do next, as though I knew nothing and she knew everything about this plant.

Well, I had it outside for the summer under a tree with some Orchids.

And then one day we had a sudden chilly spell.  I was out of town.

When I came back, the Orchids were damaged.  And the Jade Tree was in a state of collapse.

I brought it inside very carefully, and I watched it with for 2 or 3 weeks, knowing the tissues were probably completely damaged.  I never gave up hope.  But these things happen.  They happen to all of us.

Sometimes they happen to me.

Sometimes they happen to you.

Do what you can do with your plant.  Your mother would probably be concerned here.  So keep things in perspective.  We all have memories we treasure.  They stay with us.  Remember that.

If these Tulips don't bloom again, buy more!  This one -- good practice.  A lesson learned.  Move on.  Take what you have learned, thank your mother, and try again.  These are lovely plants.  They should bring you joy.  Much joy, for years to come.

Keep in touch.  And thanks for writing.