what do I do with my bulbs after removing from ground after they have bloomed?

by Elsie
(Longview, TX)

My tulips bloomed in the spring. I use the same flower bed for annuals and other plants, so I have dug my bulbs up. I understand that I am to let them dry and let the leaves die & pull them off. Now please tell me (1) how long I let them dry & should I put them in the shade or sun to dry. (2) Where should I store them until ready to plant again. Any tips you can give me on raising tulips would be appreciated. Thank you so much for your help. Elsie


Doug says - OK - did you let the leaves turn yellow before you planted them or did you dig them up before the leaves turned yellow? If you didn't let the leaves pump energy into the bulbs and then turn yellow, your bulbs don't have enough energy to bloom again and you might as well toss them. So digging before the leaves turn yellow is a bulb killer.

Second - storing tulips is cool and dry. So you need cool and dry till the fall. Let the bulbs dry in the sun for the length of time it takes the soil to dry out. That's all. Then move to cool and dry and shaded. Do not let the bulbs sit in a hot spot where they will dry out themselves.

BUT - you live in Texas. So some places in Texas don't have "winter" or the 14-16 weeks of deep cold (teens and twenties) that a flower bulb needs to form a bud. Without that cold treatment, your bulbs will not bloom.

Bulbs sold in the South have been cold-treated before the gardeners get them. That's why they bloom the first year but not the second. So if you are South or Low Texas (not a high/colder elevation) and don't really have 3 months of temperatures in the teens and twenties - you're not going to get these bulbs to bloom again. (Do your neighbors bulbs bloom year after year without being raised?)

So that's the deal - cool and dry and assuming you have a winter to bring the bulbs into bloom.