How Do You Care For Planted Tulips in Pots?
Dreaming of planted tulips in pots? Well, if your goal is to bring an English cottage right into your own garden, then you’ve come to the right place! Nothing says a quaint English countryside cottage like potted tulips! And it is a lot easier than you might think.
Here in New England, I absolutely LOVE bulb planting. Spring flowers are a welcome sight for sore eyes after after a long cold winter. I especially love how you don’t need a lot of space to have a beautiful show.
Additionally, container planting is so easy and economical, you can easily pack a punch into a small space.
What Do I Need To Start Before Planting My Bulbs in Pots?
Well for starters, think about what you envision your space to look like. Do you envision one or two pots or ten pots of all different sizes? Additionally, are you looking to go monochromatic in color or perhaps you have a certain color scheme in mind.
Once you have your goal envisioned, here is what you will need!
- Pots
- Tulip bulbs
- Potting medium (soil and amendments)
- Winter protection (think burlap)
- Time!
Step 1. Select Your Pots
If you want to overwinter your planted tulips, you will need to choose a sturdy pot that will survive the colder months without cracking and breaking. This is especially true if you live in a zone with harsh winters like I do in zone5b.
A few options include concrete and terracotta. They not only look great but hold up well in harsher climates. While concrete can be a little more expensive, it is the sturdier option of the two.
Additionally, make sure you select a pot with good drainage as this is very important!
2. Select Your Bulbs
After you have decided the size of your pots, it’s important to plan out what bulbs you want to plant and how many.
I typically order my bulbs from a wholesaler, such as Colorblends, as I am usually buying hundreds at a time. However, if you plan on only buying 10-20 I recommend going to your local garden center as they should have plenty of options for you at a great price.
Likewise, there are several other great wholesaler options such as brecks.com and edenbrothers.com to name a few.
Additionally, it is important to know when planting in containers you tend to treat them more as annuals. This means planting bulbs closer together than you normally would if planting into a garden bed. Instead of planting roughly four inches apart, now you are planting two inches apart. Thus creating a spectacular show!
Here are a few great instructional videos on how to plant and care for planted tulips in pots:
3. Select And Add Your Medium & Soil Amendments
The type of soil and amendments you add to your pots is incredibly crucial, especially in container planting as the bulbs lack the essential nutrients they would normally get from your soil.
I recommend using soil specifically for containers, a bulb toner and if needed some compost or manure to help feed your bulbs through the winter to help establish roots.
4. Protect Your Container
Lastly, after planting your tulips, an important part of ensuring a beautiful show is to ensure your bulbs are protected from the snow. If left uncovered the snow and rain could rot the bulbs.
What I end up doing is gathering all of my containers together and them wrapping the containers together with burlap fabric (this helps with insulation), and then keeping the tops covered until spring.
Now It’s Time To Wait For Those Spectacular Planted Tulips!
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