Tulips: planting in open ground in autumn, preparing tulips for winter

Author: Tamara Altova. September 22, 2017

Category: Garden plants.

Autumn is the time when a responsible gardener begins to think about spring concerns, and the most experienced even manage to postpone part of the spring sowing and planting work to the fall. We have already written about how and when to plant onions, carrots and lilies in the fall, and now it’s time to plant tulips before winter. In this article we will tell you:

• when to replant tulips: in spring or autumn;
• in what month to plant tulips before winter;
• when to plant tulips in the Moscow region, the Urals and Siberia;
• how to beautifully plant tulips on the site.

When is it better to plant tulips: autumn or spring?

Bulb crops planted in spring do not differ much in care from tulips planted in autumn.

The choice of season depends on climatic conditions; among other things, autumn and spring plantings have their own advantages and disadvantages, which must be taken into account

Pros and cons of each season

Varieties of tulips with photographs and names

Since ancient times, tulips have been the subject of decoration and admiration in the countries of the East. Once in Europe, they immediately gained great popularity among gardeners. The variety of varieties allows you to choose the most suitable and beautiful plant. Varieties are divided into flowering periods, shape and color. According to the international classification, tulips are divided into 4 groups and 15 classes.

Early flowering

• Simple early flowering . This class disbands immediately after the snow melts. The varieties are low-growing, growing up to half a meter. The flower is goblet-shaped, 5−8 cm. Color red or yellow. Varieties of this class are used for early planting. They are not suitable for cutting. This class includes the following varieties: Christmas Pearl and Purple Prince.

• Terry early varieties . The plants are not tall, flowering occurs a week later than the usual early-blooming variety. The flowers of this class are double, with a flowering period of up to two weeks. The flowers are not suitable for cutting. They look perfect in flower pots and in combination with hyacinths, crocuses and daffodils.

Mid-blooming tulips

• Triumph tulips . The color of flowers in this group can range from white to dark purple. There are also plants with double colors. Flowering is long-lasting (10-12 days), beginning in early May. The plants are resistant to winds and heavy rains, and in sunny weather they never fully open. The plants are tall and look good in cut flowers and flower beds. This class includes the following varieties: Triumph Indian Summer and Mistress Mystic.

• Tree hybrids . The plants are tall, reaching a length of up to 80 cm. The goblet-shaped flowers are pink or white, and there are varieties with double color. Flowering occurs early. This class has one drawback: the flower opens completely and quickly loses its decorative appearance. The advantages include disease resistance, frost resistance and good transportability. Cut flowers can stand in water for a long time.

This group includes varieties:

Late bloomers

This group is the largest and has many varieties with a variety of colors. It includes seven independent classes:

• Simple, late flowering . These are tall, powerful plants, reaching a height of up to 80 cm. The goblet-shaped flowers are large, colored from white to purple. Flowering begins in mid-May.

• Liliaceae . The class has an original flower structure - large oval-shaped inflorescences have pointed petals that bend outward. Lily tulips are very popular among summer residents for their resemblance to lilies. This class is represented by:

• Fringed . The difference from other specimens is the presence of a small fringe in the form of needles or crystals along the edges of the petals. The plant is tall, grows up to 75 cm. Flowering begins in May.

Breeders have developed varieties in which fringe appears on the back, as well as terry and fringed varieties. Flowers of this class look good as cut flowers and are used for landscape decoration.

• Green-flowered . A fairly new variety, it differs from others by the presence of stripes, spots, and olive-colored streaks on the outside of the petals. It is divided into types: short (20−30 cm) and medium tall (35−50 cm). The stems of these plants are strong, the leaf blade is long, some varieties have a white stripe that runs along the edge of the leaf. Flowering occurs at the end of May and lasts 5-7 days. Flowers are used to make bouquets, as an addition to an alpine hill, and as separate groups for decorating gardens.

• Tulips by Rembrandt. Specimens of this class have multi-colored flowers. The plant is tall, up to 70 cm in height, the flowers are large. Bulbs can be purchased at specialty stores, greenhouses or nurseries. The unusual color of the petals is associated with a virus that settles on the flower and colors it with stripes and strokes of different colors.

• Parrot tulip . The plant differs from other classes in the unusual shape of its flowers. The rugged, wavy, splayed petals resemble a ruffled parrot. The flowers are large, of various colors: from snow-white to black. Flowering begins in mid-May. Flowers are used as cut flowers, for making bouquets, and they will also decorate any garden plot.

• Late-blooming double tulips . Terry, or peony, tulips begin to bloom in early June and bloom for up to 3 weeks. The flowers are large and varied in color. Compared to terry early-blooming tulips, the corollas of late species are much more massive and dense. Tulips need support and planting in a place protected from gusty winds. Recently, a variety was developed - Ice Cream. It has bright outer petals and a snow-white core. Although the variety is new, it has become very popular among gardeners for its color and unusual shape.

Botanical and species tulips

• Kaufmann tulips are early flowering plants. The first flowers appear immediately after the snow melts. The plant is low, grows up to 25 cm, flower petals of various colors are star-shaped. The leaves are wide, some varieties have white stripes or streaks.

• Foster's Tulips. The plants are medium in size - 25−30 cm. The flowers are goblet or cup-shaped, and when open they resemble the shape of a star. The color is bright, most varieties are red, in rare cases yellow or pink.

• Greig's tulips . The plants are medium-sized, growing up to 30 cm in height. The flowers are bright and large. The color is red, orange or two-tone. Flowering lasts from late April to mid-May. Because of their beautiful appearance, plants are used to decorate garden paths and as an addition to alpine slides.

• Wild species. This class includes tulips growing in the wild. All varieties are dwarf, low-growing, and begin to bloom in early spring. The flowers are small and varied in color.

You can visually familiarize yourself with the varieties of tulips by watching the video:

General planting dates: table

The assortment of bulbous plants is rich; for each species there are optimal planting times, which vary depending on the time of year and the region of cultivation.

Rooting of tulip bulbs takes about a month and a half, so it is very important to strictly adhere to the deadlines for autumn planting. Even before the onset of frost, an ornamental crop must develop a good root lobe that feeds the plant throughout the winter period. If planted too early, the growth processes of the flower are activated, and late planting does not allow the roots to fully develop. If the recommended planting dates are violated, delayed flowering, winter freezing or death of the plant is observed.

You can learn more about the rules for autumn planting other bulbous flowers from the material:

Unexpected situations

It happens that the weather deteriorates too suddenly or the gardeners themselves do not have time to plant the seed. In such situations, many abandon plans to plant flowers or risk planting them in the spring.

But sometimes the situation can be corrected differently:

1. If the planting time is ending, but the ground is not yet frozen, you can plant flowers and cover the top with spruce branches, compost or dry leaves for protection. In winters with little snow, you will need to additionally cover them with snow.
2. The second option would be to plant seed in separate containers at the dacha. Rooted plants are stored in a cool place (in the basement or on the balcony) until spring, after which they are planted in the ground in the spring. You need to pour a layer of drainage material (at least 5 cm) into the bottom of the container itself, fill it with soil on top, plant the bulbs, water them and leave them warm (at room temperature) for 3 weeks for rooting. Then the container is put away in a cool place.
3. Some gardeners prefer to plant bulbs in special baskets for bulbous flowers. Unlike ordinary solid containers, they are containers with holes. In spring, you can bury the baskets themselves in the ground without digging up the tulips. Thanks to the holes in the bottom and walls, the flowers will be able to fully feed. This method is also suitable if the soil on the site is completely unsuitable: it is enough to fill the basket with black soil without filling the entire bed.
4. If tulips have already begun to grow, it is better to plant them as house plants.
5. If you don’t want to throw away the diseased bulbs, you can carefully remove the problem areas with a sharp knife, coat the cut with brilliant green and plant them separately. You cannot plant sick and healthy specimens next to each other, as the infection will spread to everyone.

Advice!

Gardeners note that otherwise tulips are extremely picky and grow well even under the most unfavorable conditions.

Bright, eye-catching tulips are not without reason considered one of the main spring flowers. They are one of the first to appear and decorate the “bare” bed almost all spring. Another advantage is the unpretentiousness of the flowers: by planting the bulbs directly in open ground in the fall, you can get a beautiful flower bed in the spring.

How and where to store bulbs before autumn planting

When storing tulip bulbs until autumn planting, certain requirements must be met:

• at the initial stage of storage, the temperature should be approximately 23–25°C;
• by the onset of August, the temperature in the storage should be reduced to 20°C;
• about a week before planting in open ground flower beds, the temperature drops to 15°C;
• Excessive humidity in the storage should be prevented, as otherwise the risk of developing bacterial and fungal diseases increases;
• it is important to monitor the air humidity in the storage, otherwise the bulbs may dry out or die;
• Good ventilation should be provided in the room.

If necessary, the bottom shelf of a conventional refrigerator can be used for storage.

Experienced gardeners advise wrapping flower bulbs with newspaper paper, which will prevent the development of diseases, rotting or excessive drying.

Species features

Despite the fact that planting conifers has many common points for different types of trees and shrubs, each variety has its own characteristics that should definitely be taken into account.

Additional recommendations by type:

• Spruce: after planting, do not trample or compact the soil within the diameter of the trunk circle.
• Cypress trees, yews and thujas are among the simplest in terms of planting; no additional recommendations are given.
• Larch: planting in a permanent place is possible only after the plant reaches the age of 4 years, the period is in the spring, before buds open, and it is necessary to preserve young thin roots with mycorrhiza (fungal formation).
• Juniper: capricious in terms of soil choice, for example, Siberian juniper needs to be planted in sandy soil, Cossack juniper in calcareous soil, Virginia juniper in clay soil.
• Fir: planting in a permanent place is possible only when the plant reaches the age of 5 years.
• Pine: young seedlings up to 5 years old are planted in the ground.

Planting conifers on a summer cottage is a troublesome, time-consuming and difficult undertaking. At the same time, it pays off with year-round greenery in the garden that pleases the eye, which does not require special care.

How to treat bulbs before planting

Preplanting treatment is a very important stage, which improves survival rate and prevents diseases and pests of ornamental crops. For this purpose, industrial preparations or time-tested folk remedies can be used.

Main preparation techniques:

1. Peeling the bulbs.
2. Visual analysis of planting material for damage and contamination by pathogenic microflora.
3. Sorting bulbs according to size.
4. Disinfection procedure.

Hard covering scales are removed from the planting material, under which hidden foci of infection are most often located.

Peeled bulbs better absorb nutrition from the soil

After cleaning and careful inspection, the bulbs are sorted by diameter.

Traditionally, a weak pink solution of potassium permanganate or the modern antifungal drug “Fundazol” is used to treat planting material, 15 g of which is dissolved in 5 liters of water.

There is a wide range of the latest treatment products on sale, thanks to which the bulbs are protected and growth processes are stimulated in them.

Soil preparation

Making a garden bed and planting bulbs in the ground is not enough. It is necessary to prepare the soil and, if necessary, improve it so that the bulbs can germinate and take root faster.

Preparation consists of several steps:

1. A month before the planting date, you need to carefully dig up the area, going to a depth of 25-30 cm, and clear it of roots and weeds. Such advance preparation is necessary so that the soil has time to settle: soil that is too loose can damage weak roots.
2. Then apply special fertilizers for the bulbs or prepare them yourself. The latter consist of 5 kg of compost (or rotted humus), 200 grams of wood ash, 50 grams of superphosphate and 15 grams of ammonia acid. This amount is applied per 1 sq. m of land.
3. If necessary, clay or sand is added to improve the soil itself.
4. 2 days before planting, water the soil to ensure complete shrinkage.

Important!

Before planting, you need to water the soil again with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or fungicide. This will help destroy harmful microorganisms. For the same purpose, you can pre-soak the bulbs in a solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour immediately before planting.

You may be interested in:

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Is it worth fertilizing the soil?

For growing tulips, flower beds with light, sandy loam, and humus-rich soils are selected. Sandy and heavy soil is unsuitable for such flower crops. Coarse river sand must be added to clay soil, and too light sandy soil can be improved with humus, peat or turf soil.

Material on how to care for the soil at your dacha will also be useful:

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The ornamental plant feels best in flower beds that are well lit, without stagnant water and well protected from gusts of cold wind, but late-flowering varieties can be placed in partial shade. Too much shade causes the bulbs to shrink.

To combat high groundwater levels, drainage ditches are installed at half a meter depth.

Excessive amounts of organic matter can negatively affect the flowering process. In this case, the flowers have an irregular shape, and all developing peduncles differ in curvature. When applying fresh manure in any quantity, rotting of the plant roots is often observed, so such daughter bulbs are unsuitable for propagation.

Green manure plants plowed into the soil, as well as pre-disinfected compost, have a good effect on the growth and development of tulips. It is very important that the soil of the flower garden has a neutral or alkaline reaction; for this purpose, measures are taken to liming the soil. However, in a number of countries, the application of fertilizers when growing tulips is considered extremely harmful. In addition to organic matter, the application of mineral fertilizers, which have a positive effect on flowering time and bulb size, is of no small importance.

You can learn how to lim the soil in the garden from the material:

Location requirements

It is equally important to choose a good planting site. It is necessary not only to design a beautiful garden bed that is convenient for the gardener, but also to select good soil and an area suitable for flowers.

When choosing, you need to pay attention to the following points :

1. You need to choose a sunny, well-lit area, protected from the wind.
2. It is advisable to plant tulips on a hill or on a slope so that excess water drains away. Low-lying or overly wet soils are not suitable, as the bulbs will begin to rot. In the latter case, it is worth arranging high beds.
3. The soil should be loose, with good drainage, slightly alkaline or neutral. Acidic soil is not suitable.
4. Sandy and loamy soils are well suited. If the soil is clayey or too heavy, it can be improved by adding peat or river sand (5 kg per 1 sq. m); if it is sandy, add clay chips (about a bucket per 1 sq. m).
5. You should not plant tulips in beds where cucumbers, zucchini, melons, tomatoes, watermelons or asters previously grew.

Advice!

When choosing the size of a flower bed, you should focus on the desired effect. For example, to achieve a “carpet” effect you will need up to 100 bulbs per 1 square meter. meter.

How to plant tulips in open ground

Immediately after the dressing procedure, the planting material is planted on previously prepared flower beds. Missed planting time threatens swelling of the bulbs and reduced germination. For planting, it is necessary to make special grooves, the depth of which is about 10–15 cm.

The standard planting interval between bulbs is approximately 9–10 cm, but on heavy soils planting is done at a shallow depth

On light soil, the bulbs are planted deeper. Among other things, varietal characteristics influence planting depth:

• bulbs of extra-class varieties are buried 15–18 cm;
• planting material of II-III analysis is planted to a depth of 10–12 cm;
• children are planted with a slight depth.

On dry soil, furrows need to be shed generously with settled, warm water. Fertilizer is applied to the bottom if such an event was not carried out during the digging process. It is lightly sprinkled with sand, after which the bulbs are planted with the bottom down. To minimize the risk of root breakage, planting material should not be pressed into the ground too much, and before backfilling, the bulbs are lightly dusted with ordinary wood ash. Tulips are planted in the old flower garden after about 3–4 years.

Checking the seed

Planting tulips in the fall in the Leningrad region and other regions begins with inspection and rejection of planting material. It is better to throw away rotten, dry or damaged bulbs with mold, stains or cracks. It is desirable that the diameter of the selected material be approximately 3-4 cm.

The brown shell should be intact, the stem primordium should be noticeable but not sprouted, the bottom of the bulb should be dense, with root tubercles. If the bottom is soft or roots have appeared, the bulb is not suitable for planting.

Immediately before planting, it is worth sorting the seed by size and planting in groups. In this case, larger flowers will not be able to “clog” weak ones.

How to plant in boxes and containers

Growing tulips in boxes and containers is very popular in many countries, including Russia.

The container should be spacious, which will allow you to plant a large number of bulbs

To fill a container or box, preference should be given to ready-made soil mixtures that are guaranteed to be disinfected and free of plant parasites. If necessary, the nutrient substrate is prepared independently by mixing garden soil, vermiculite, high-quality humus, clean medium sand and perlite with the addition of coconut fiber. The structure of the finished mixture should be quite loose.

The marking of the site for placing containers is carried out in the autumn, around September. Containers or boxes are placed in the dug planting holes, the bottom of which is filled with sand, after which tulip bulbs are planted. Their placement pattern varies between 4–15 cm and directly depends on the size of the planting material and the variety of ornamental crop. All bulbs are sprinkled with nutritious soil substrate, after which the planting is mulched with a two-centimeter layer of humus or peat.

Common mistakes

If you decide to plant tulips in the fall, you will get the advantage of flowering in the spring. But it also happens that the bulbs have been planted, but there are still no tulips. This could happen for the following reasons.

Landing at the wrong time

If you plant the bulbs too early, they will begin to sprout, and the coming cold will destroy their sprouts. If it is too late to do this, the tulips may not take root. Planting them on time in this case means catching the moment when the soil temperature at a depth of 15 cm is approximately 10°C. These are ideal conditions for planting tulip bulbs.

If all the deadlines for planting tulips have already passed, then you can germinate the bulbs in flower pots, and then wrap them in agril, lutrasil or spunbond and grow them on the balcony until spring.

Landing in the wrong place

Location is also of great importance. Thus, tulips cannot be planted in lowlands, since water will accumulate there, and this will lead to rotting and subsequently freezing of the planting material.

For planting, choose a place that is well lit in spring, with fertile soil of light structure. Under no circumstances should tulips be planted in acidic soil, or in the same place where they grew previously.