One of the most common questions I get in winter is what to do with forced bulbs after they’re done flowering. I answer that most people treat them like cut flowers and compost them. But I add if that’s what they plan to do to please bring me the pot and plants.
I’ll deadhead them and put them in a sunny window or a cold frame if spring is fast approaching. When the leaves die back, I clip them off and stick the pots some place where they’ll stay bone dry.
Some of the bulbs will rot. Some will whither. But come October, I stick the sound bulbs in the ground. As you can see, it can be worth the effort.
I never buy tulips. They have a tendency to fade away rather than mulitply. And the deer love them, though they seldom graze on the ones I plant close to the house. I think it was Elizabeth over at GardenRant who wrote that the clown colors of tulips like these are a tad gauche. I tend to agree. But for a week or so every spring they make me smile.
Would you believe that I have never bought forced tulips? Now I wish I had snapped up some spent ones on clearance at the garden center, though–that’s a good show they’re making for you!
Yes… exactly.
I agree that what you do is the smart, decent, fun and economical thing to do. I do the same thing. (And for the record, some “Gauche” colored tulips after a long grey winter are wonderful things. We agree again.)
I can’t put hands my hands on any data, but some years ago I read some study results about the effects of forcing on tulips versus some other species. I can’t remeber the data or the details, but the gist of it was that forcing was particularly hard on (some) tulips and hyacinths and if they survive, they need care and a season or two to catch up…. if they do.
What you are doing is perfect. (But then again, you are a “gardener” and not merely someone who “plants perfect plants.”)
I’ll go a-looking for that data.