Chill Out, Tulips!

Each fall, I plant a variety of bulbs to enjoy in the garden each spring and to ensure plenty of cut flowers. But I never plant tulips or other bulbs that need to be chilled in our mild climate. While I admire my neighbor's tulip beds, I prefer the ease of planting other flowers, such as daffodils, anemones, ranunculus, and snowdrops.

So when my husband and I toured Keukenhof in the Netherlands during the park's 75^th anniversary this spring, I was adamant that I would not purchase any bulbs for shipping home. I hadn't been tempted by tulips before and I didn't expect to be tempted then. Spoiler alert: I didn't buy any bulbs there or in the gorgeous flower markets in Amsterdam. I was 100% tulip-proof on my travels!

This was no easy task because, as others have written in thisblog,Keukenhof offers a spectacular display of tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs. More than 7 million spring-flowering bulbs, as well as sculptures and art, are distributed across approximately 79 acres. While our visit took place on an unseasonably cold, rainy day, the park was still spectacular with enormous garden beds planted with a wide variety of flowers. I never knew so many varieties of tulips existed! At the beginning, I naively told my husband that I was only going to take photos of my favorites. Nearly 450 photos later, apparently, I had a lot of favorites!

But when I got home and two days later there was a tulip sale, including bulbs featured at Keukenhof. I broke down and ordered several varieties, just for fun. This then raised the big question – to chill or not to chill?

Tulips and certain other bulbs, such as hyacinths, requirevernalization, which means that the plants need a certain amount of chilling to grow and set flowers. They may bloom without chilling, but the flowers may be stunted. Some plants requirevernalization, while others benefit from chilling, but do not require it. Different sources of information specify different minimum temperatures and time periods for chilling tulip bulbs, but, in general, tulips require chilling temperatures below 55 degrees for approximately 10-12 weeks to ensure proper development of the blooms. Luckily, this chilling process is easy to duplicate by placing the bulbs in a paper bag and chilling them in refrigerator drawer for a minimum of 6-8 weeks before planting them. But don't put them in a drawer with apples or other fruit because the fruit gives off ethylene gas as it ripens, which interferes with the bulbs' flower development. It is helpful to write down the date when the bulbs should be removed from the refrigerator to ensure that you don't forget when to plant them. I usually write the date on the bag and also put a reminder on my calendar.

Will tulips bloom in our area without chilling? Perhaps. Some bulbs come pre-chilled. Sometimes, our area has a colder winter. I never chill my crocus bulbs, and they bloom just fine. In contrast, my snowdrop flowers have been a bit stunted the past few years and, if I plant more in the future, I will try chilling them first. In any event, since I rarely plant tulips, I want to promote favorable growing and blooming conditions by chilling the bulbs. I will treat the tulips as annuals because they are unlikely to return for more than a year, perhaps two, in our mild climate.

As much as I love growing my usual types of spring-flowering bulbs, I'm looking forward to trying something a little different this year that will bring fond memories of our travels.

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