Expert: Long Island Gardener - 10/3/2007

Question
I live in Central Florida and want to plant tulips, when should I plant them and about when would they bloom?

Answer
No matter where you go, gardeners are looking for ways to do things that can't be done.

Me, I have to grow Orange Trees in New York.

People in San Diego, they want to grow spring bulbs in Southern California.

Natalie wants to grow Bearded Iris in Key West.

You, Linda, want to plant and bloom Tulips in Central Florida.

I love Florida.  Home of the American Orchid Society.  No trip to the Sunshine State is complete with a visit to an Orchid Factory and a Greenhouse.  There is nothing like landing on the tarmac at Miami Airport surrounded by Palm Trees and that aquamarine sky after a cold, brutal ride in February to JFK airport to catch the flight, trudging through the gray snow to get to the car through an icy wind.  That balm, beautiful, bodacious Florida climate is Heavenly.

So why is it that people with that kind of perfect weather have to pose this kind of problem?  Why grow Tulips when you can grow Lc. White Spark and Brassavola nodosa?  Gardenias and Plumerias and Jasmine?  The tenderest Roses?Fragrant Freesia and Ranunculus?

Tulips evolved in mountainous regions with snow on the ground.  Where temps NEVER get warmer than 60 degrees F.

I have never so much as grown a radish in Zone 9, but my best guess is that the biggest problem with growing Tulips in Central Florida is going to be that beautiful Florida weather.

A single 80 degrees F afternoon and your Tulip bulbs will faint from heat exhaustion.  Especially if the bud is ready to bloom.  High winds will do the same thing by dessicating the bud.  Poof! Your Tulip bloom is history.

That's not all.  While bulb catalogs DON'T make this point, most Tulips DO NOT bloom more than 2 or 3 seasons.  Many in fact don't bloom more than ONE season!

There are a few reasons for that.

First, there's the squirrels factor.  Squirrels are wild about Tulips.

Second, the Profit factor.  The Dutch don't make Tulips like they used to.  Growers in Holland are businesspeople.  Profits come from big, colorful, tall- and short-stemmed Tulips for the cut flower trade.  NO ONE cares if your Tulips NEVER grow again.  You can refrigerate them after they've bloomed, sure.  But there's no guarantee they'll re-bloom once you put them back in a pot and start watering.  In fact, by breeding short-lived Tulips, Growers figure you will have to replace them often.  In my case, that's a few hundred dollars a year.

So if you MUST try this at home, Linda, order PRE-COOLED BULBS.  These are Tulips that have been treated for the right amount of time at the right temperature to make the Tulips think they have been through a long, cold, healthy Winter.  When you plant them, they will sprout and in time, they may bloom.  The key is to keep them from getting too hot, too quickly, while giving them all the bright Florida sunshine they can get.  This is NOT EASY to do.  Too much too soon and the Tulip buds blast.  This happens to me EVERY YEAR on certain Bulbs in the spring.  And I'm in New York!

After they bloom, you can consider storing them in a refrigerator all Summer.  This will protect them for the the season.  Then next Fall you can replant them.

Remember, gardeners In Zone 9 have a whole new world of flowering plants.  Tropicals that never need to be hauled into a greenhouse -- like my Orange Trees do, ever late autumn.  Plants I can only dream of are sitting on the store shelves, with your name on them, waiting for you to bring them home.

You have NO idea, Linda.