What to Do With Potted Tulips That Are Done Blooming

Fertilizing Potted Tulips

• If your first-year bulbs are healthy and already cold-treated, they will probably bloom well, no matter what you do. Most care you provide is for future seasons. Potted plants can't benefit from existing soil nutrients or moisture the way most garden plants do, so you'll need to supply both. Fertilize just-potted bulbs with slow-release 10-10-10 fertilizer or bulb food at the suggested rate, and water them well. Fertilize again when the tulips are blooming. Water if you get a winter or spring dry spell so the soil doesn't dry out.

Post-Bloom Care

• Cut tulip flowers as soon as they are spent, but allow yellowing vegetation to completely dry up and wither before removing it --- this way, the bulbs can reabsorb all the available nutrients to support next year's bloom. Sidestep the urge to "neaten up" lanky foliage by placing pots in an out-of the-way spot. Later, pull away dead foliage --- toss it in the compost pile --- but otherwise leave the bulbs alone for the summer, without watering them.

Other Care in Mild-Winter Areas

• If you love tulips but live in a climate where winter temperatures rarely drop below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, you'll need to provide the 14 to 16 weeks of annual cooling tulips need. Lift dry bulbs in the fall or winter, six to 16 weeks before they typically emerge in the spring; how much cooling they will need depends on your climate and winter temperatures. Place tulip bulbs in egg cartons, mesh bulb or onion bags or brown paper bags, and then refrigerate them well away from any apples, as they give off ethylene gas, which will kill the flowers inside the bulbs. When it's time to replant the bulbs in pots, take them from the refrigerator, plant them immediately and then water thoroughly. Tulips also need cool soil to establish their roots --- temperatures below 55 to 60 degrees --- so refrigerate them again, pots and all, if your basement, garage or outdoor shady areas aren't cold enough.

Other Care in Cold-Winter Areas

• Where winters are cold, begin watering your potted tulips again in the fall, when you would otherwise plant new bulbs. Potted tulips will get enough winter cold for good spring bloom but are vulnerable to freeze damage. Bring pots indoors temporarily when temperatures dip below 28 degrees Fahrenheit, or insulate your outdoor pots. Make a pot-high chicken-wire cylinder 12 inches larger in diameter than your tulip pot. Place your pot on the ground, and then slip the chicken wire around it and stuff the 6-inch area outside the pot with straw. Alternatively, dig a trench along a garage wall or other protected area and bury your tulips, pots and all, for the winter. Make sure the soil remains moist.