Expert: Long Island Gardener - 5/15/2007

Question
I just received some tulips from my uncle's funeral last week that I very much would like to keep alive in his memory. But from reading some of your other comments, this seems impossible.  Is there anything I can do? They have already bloomed and started to wither; I have kept them in direct sunlight and watered them for the past few days. I live in Southern Indiana.  Thanks for your help!

Answer
Give them a shot, Michelle.  What do you have to lose?

Cut off the fading blossoms, first of all.  Put them OUTSIDE for the most possible sun.  Plant them if you can.  A good foot underground is best.  Make sure there's drainage down there and throw in a handful of bonemeal at planting time.  Indiana is one of the best places to grow Tulips in the country.

Keep them DRY during the summer.  Do not Fertilize, Do not water.  Capeech?  Don't even THINK about doing those things.  Forget the Tuips are even there.  If there's grass growing, cover the grass with a slate tile to prevent water from raining down there where the bulbs are.

In fall, think about your bulbs some more.  Do nothing.   Wait for spring.  Let me know what happens.

And IF, Michelle, a few come up, be grateful for that!  If none of them come up, go inside, pour yourself a glass of rose, and toast your Uncle for his part in a very lovely gift.  He may even help them along.  Who knows.

There is nothing, Michelle, to stop you from planting Tulips every year.  I have a catalog open in front of me right now from Brent and Becky's Bulbs, to get some more tall yellow Mrs John Scheepers, which I did not get this year.  I'd love to have them bloom next Spring 2008.  You can always have a spring brunch with close friends of your Uncle, Tulips in bloom, and share that memory every year.  That's what friends are for.

Thanks for writing.  Keep me posted.