How to grow tulips

Spring wouldn’t be the same without tulips. The beautiful flowers of these showy bulbs come in almost every colour imaginable, from pale pastels to hot, vibrant shades. They are perfect for adding spring colour to borders in April and May and grow very well in pots.

Tulips are a spring bulb, planted in mid to late autumn. Tulips are technically perennial, but years of breeding to get the most beautiful blooms means that many varieties only flower reliably for one year. Many gardeners plant new bulbs each autumn to ensure a good display. If you’re growing tulips in pots, you need to plant fresh bulbs each year.

Some tulips flower earlier than others – early flowering varieties bloom from late March to April, mid-season in April to May, and late-flowering ones bloom in May. You can prolong your displays by growing a mix of different types. You can also mix flower shapes, heights and and colours. Combining tulips can be quite an art but you can buy ready-selected mixes to grow, at the garden centre or online.

How to grow tulips

Plant tulip bulbs in moist but well-drained soil in a sunny spot in mid- to late autumn – November is ideal. Plant at at least three times the depth of the bulb, pointed end up, around 5cm apart. For the best displays, plant fresh bulbs each autumn.

More on growing tulips:

• Early-flowering tulips to grow
• Nine late-flowering tulips to grow
• Parrot and fringed tulips to grow
• What to grow with tulips
• Five stunning tulip combinations

Growing tulips: jump links

• Where to grow tulips
• When to plant tulips
• How to plant tulips
• How to propagate tulips
• Tulip problem-solving
• Buying tulips
• Tulip types and flowering times
• Tulips by colour

Where to plant tulips

Tulips of all types do best in a sunny, sheltered spot, in well-drained soil. It’s a good idea to plant tulips behind perennials in a border – their emerging foliage will conceal the foliage of the tulips as they die back. Improve heavy clay or sandy soils by incorporating plenty of well-rotted organic matter before planting. If your soil is especially heavy, you could add some horticultural grit to the bottom of the planting hole. Conditions in your garden not ideal? Find out how to grow tulips in problem places.

Tulips also grow very well in pots, in peat-free, multipurpose compost.

When to plant tulips

Tulip bulbs can be planted from mid-October, but November is thought to be the optimum time as it reduces the risk of a fungal disease called tulip fire, which is wiped out in colder weather. You can get away with planting tulips bulbs as late as December, or even January – they should still bloom in spring.

If you’ve forgotten to buy bulbs altogether, you can buy potted tulips in pots in the spring at the garden centre – enough to create a pot display or two.

How to plant tulips

In autumn, dig a planting hole with a garden trowel or bulb planter and drop the bulb into the hole with the pointed end up. Plant tulips 20cm deep or at about three times the depth of the bulbs’ height, with about 5cm between each one. For the best display, plant tulips en masse.

Tulips grow very well in pots. Half fill the container with peat-free, multipurpose compost and plant the bulbs at three times their depth, with a few centimetres between each one. Top up with compost. In this clip from Gardeners’ World, Monty Don demonstrates how to plant tulips and evergreens in a pot in autumn:

You can also combine tulips with other spring bulbs in a container for a more long-lasting display. In this No Fuss video guide, Kevin Smith demonstrates how to layer tulips with other spring bulbs in a pot:

How to deadhead tulips

Tulips can be deadheaded after flowering. Avoid deadheading species types or you will miss out on the seed. Don’t cut back foliage until it has turned yellow which will be about a month after flowering. If you cut back the foliage too early the bulbs will be weaker the following year.

Here, Daniel Haynes explains how to get species tulips to reflower:

How to propagate tulips

If you want to enjoy tulip blooms from year to year, it’s best to plant them fresh every autumn. Alternatively you can lift and store the bulbs. To do this, lift them with a hand fork once the foliage has turned yellow a month after flowering. Remove the foliage and pull or cut off the stem and remove the flaky outer coating from the bulb. Leave the bulbs to dry and then store in a paper bag.

Watch Monty Don’s video guide to lifting and storing tulip bulbs:

Offset bulbs that have formed on the sides of the main bulb can be gently pulled away. Store these alongside their parent bulbs in paper bags in a cool, frost-free place.The offsets can planted out but deeper – about 25cm deep – in autumn.

Species bulbs will self-seed in the garden. Avoid deadheading and allow the seed to disperse to encourage more plants.

Growing tulips: problem solving

Tulip fire (Botrytis tulipae) is a fungal disease that is particularly bad in wet seasons as the spores are spread by wind and rain. The symptoms include distorted and stunted shoots and leaves and unsightly brown blotches all over the plant. If your plants are affected, remove and burn them and avoid planting tulips on the same site for at least two years. If storing bulbs from year to year, prevent this problem by dipping them in a fungicide solution. Planting from November should help reduce the risk of the disease.

Tulip types and flowering times

There are over a dozen types of tulip, with varying flower heights and shapes, that flower at slightly different times in spring. Flowering times depend on the weather conditions and can vary from year to year. They also depend on part of the country that you live in – tulips in the north of the country can flower several weeks later than those in the south.

Early tulips (late March to April)

Single early – some of the earliest tulips to flower, usually in late March or early April. Simple, cup-shaped flowers on strong stems. Try ‘Apricot Beauty’ or ‘Prinses Irene’.

Double early – long lasting, double flowers that look like peonies, on short stems. Early to mid April. Try Tulip ‘Verona’, with pale yellow flowers.

Kaufmanniana hybrids – water-lily like flowers. One of the most reliably perennial types. 

Species / botanical tulips – small and delicate (10-15cm in height) but hardy and long lived. They are ideal for rockeries, gravel gardens, containers or the front of a border. They come back year after year and will self seed if you don’t deadhead them. Some flower early; others later in the season.

• Seven species tulips to grow
• Early-flowering tulips to grow

Mid-season tulips (April to May)

Triumph tulips –  tough tulips with strong stems that flower in April. Good for a windy spot. Try lipstick pink ‘Barcelona’, wine and yellow ‘Abu Hassan’ or  burnt orange ‘Cairo’ or ‘Brown Sugar’.

Darwin hybrids – tall tulips with large, goblet shaped flowers. The stems are very strong and are wind resistant. Reliably perennial. Try ‘Apeldoorn’ or ‘Apricot Beauty’.

Fosteriana hybrids – these have slender flowers when closed, opening wide in full sun. They sometimes have purple or brown markings. Previously known as Emperor tulips. Try the stunning white Tulip ‘Purissima’.

Lily flowered – as their name suggests, the elegant, pointed flowers of these tulips look like lilies. Try Tulip ‘White Triumphator’ or orange ‘Ballerina’, which is scented.

Fringed – these have cup shaped flowers with frilly edges. Try Tulip ‘Fancy Frills’ or ‘Oviedo’.

Viridiflora – the petals often have green markings. Try the white and green Tulip ‘Spring Green‘, red-tinged ‘Flaming Spring Green’ or dark pink ‘Doll’s Minuet’.

Rembrandt – long-stemmed varieties with streaky, bi-coloured blooms, as if they are from a Dutch still life. Try Tulip ‘Sorbet’ or ‘Helmar’.

Parrot – flamboyant flowers that are fringed or twisted. The stems have an attractive flopping effect.  Try Tulip ‘Black Parrot’ or ‘Flaming Parrot’.

Greigii hybrids – marbled or striped foliage on low growing plants which have large brightly coloured flowers. Reliably perennial. Try Tulip ‘Red Riding Hood’.

Late tulips (May)

Single late/Darwin – oval flowers on tall, strong, wind-resistant stems. Try dark purple Tulip ‘Queen of Night’, peachy Tulip ‘Menton’ or white ‘Maureen’.

Double late/peony flowered – one of the last tulips to flower, and long-lasting. The large flowers look like peonies.
Try the beautiful peachy pink Tulip ‘Angelique’. Best peony-flowered tulips

• Nine late-flowering tulips to grow

Tulips by flower colour

• Best red tulips to grow
• Orange tulips to grow
• Best yellow tulips to grow
• Best pink tulips to grow
• Seven purple tulips to grow
• White tulips to grow
• Best bi-coloured tulips to grow

Tulips as cut flowers

Tulips make good cut flowers and have a good vase life – they will continue to grow in the water. Avoid mixing daffodils and tulips in a vase as the daffodils let out a substance that can prevent the tulips from taking up water.