I've just moved and now have a garden for the first time.
The garden was already full of plants when I moved, but the Tulips the were growing are now dying.They were erect then they started to fall over, the heads then started to grow upwards again although the stems were still laying almost flat.
Could this be caused by the fact it has been very wet lately with little sunshine, except for about 1 week of very good weather?
And what should I be doing to save the Tulips?
Check the stems carefully. Do they look chewed? This could be snail damage.
If you are in the UK, I'd guess that tulips should be pretty much past their sell-by date and heading toward dormancy at this late date. My limited experience is that tulips would be at full bloom in April or early May even in the north counties. They were blooming beautifully in Carlisle in early May two years back and at roughly the same time in Inverness last year. I guess that it could be that yours were beaten down by rain (you're not in Wales are you?) or suffering from bad soil drainage but my guess would still be that they are simply going through their normal life cycle. Around my area of the US it often takes no more than a month to go from blooming to brown.
I'm in the south UK. It has been very wet here lately, with about a week of good sunshine. How should I clear away the dead plants? If I cut the stems would they still grow back again next year?
Tulips live for 2 weeks. When the flowers die, cut off and take care of the foliage. Save the bulbs for planting in the Spring.
Thanks for the info. Where should I cut them? Should I leave the bulbs in the soil, or put them in pots in the greenhouse? (I really am new to all this!)
not a good move,
trim off the flower, but leave the foliage until it dies back naturally. otherwise you are removing the energy which grows bulbs/flowers for the next year. removing diseased foliage to prevent the spread of the disease is about the only reason i would consider removing green leaves from a tulip or if i wanted to kill or make the plant smaller next year.
2 weeks? that is just plain wrong. more like 2-3 months.songbird
Around here Tulips are short lived due to summer heat. Plant them deep and they may make it more then 2 years.
When will the bulb save energy for next year? When will it make more bulbs? You have to allow them to go through their lifecycle. Don't cut the folliage until it dies of its own accord.
David
Bill who putters wrote: ...
some varieties maybe, but the species as a whole came about as an adaptation to dry hot summers in combination with a cold wet winter and spring.
i suspect that many trouble east coast USoA tulip growers would have would be not enough cold, or the tulips get too much shade or the location isn't the best...
heat/drought in the summer is what they are going dormant to avoid.
songbird
Keep watering the plants after they bloom. When the foliage yellows, cut the tulips back to the base of the plant with pruning shears or scissors. You may also be able to just pull up on the foliage to separate it from the bulb. Stop watering the plants and set the pots in a cool, dark location, such as a garage, until the spring. Take the bulbs out of the pots and replant them outdoors about 6 inches deep in a site that receives full sun. Water them well. They will come up the next spring.
Save them how? My first bulbs are ready to be removed, but I don't know optimum conditions for storing.
TIA
HB
Oh, I think you just answered my question, above. I thought maybe they should be in refrigerator, or?
Note, however, that this is a mild Mediterranean climate (So. California coastal), Will planting the bulbs make them come up too soon?
David Ross or David Hare-Scott, or somebody in/near my zone, how do YOU store tulip bulbs?
TIA
HB
I don't even try to grow tulips. I tried once and was very disappointed. I had placed them in the vegetable bin of my refrigerator for 6 weeks before planting. I don't remember how many bulbs I planted, but I got only two to bloom.
My earlier comment in this thread about snails was based on my experience with flowering bulbs that don't require winter chill. I have seen bearded iris stalks growing horizontally and then turning vertical near the end. They had been partially chewed at the base by snails.
Here's what I'm dealing with. What's my next step?
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Filename: DSC00958.jpg | |Download:
When the petals drop, you can deadhead your poppies (I assume that's what asking about?) and let them grow till next year (they're perennials), or at the risk of somewhat weaker plants, you can let a few capsules mature, gather the seed (there are little pores near the top that will open like a salt shaker) and sow it elsewhere.
Water during the summer if the leaves start to look pretty dry.
Yes, they are NOT tulips. They are poppies. Forget what everyone was saying about tulips.
Cut off each dead flower as soon as its petals fall. That will strengthen the plant.
From your photo, they might have been growing horizontally to reach the sun. When the leaves and other growth dies down, you might dig them up and move them to a more sunny location. They will come up again from the roots.
Thanks for the info. Someone told me they were tulips, and that's all I was going on (proper newbie at this!)
The plants are in a prime location for recieving sunshine in the garden, however there has not been very much sunshine lately, so I'm guessing this could explain why they have not been growing well. I will cut off the dead heads.
Will the stems be ok to leave in behind even if they have started to yellow?
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
If you dead-head them, that prevents seed formation. Creating and maturing seeds can weaken the plant, so dead-heading will promote a more vigorous plant.
On the other hand, leaving dead and dying foliage and stems does no harm. It merely looks unattractive. Once the plant is definitely yellow (or brown and dry) you can cut it back.
The other odd thing that many poppies do is "grow crazy" when exposed to low levels of 2.4-D -- which is an artificial auxin. If you ever see poppy flower stalks (pedicels) that twist this way and that, sometimes even looping, it's not that the plants are possessed or diseased, but that someone has been using a 2,4-D containing herbicide someplace. You may also find that the leaves, instead of being a compact bunch at the base, become more distant from each other -- often the plant will fall over a little.
Because 2,4-D is relatively volatile, you're more likely to see this damage after a couple of warm spring days -- and you don't have to be closer than about10 miles to the site it was applied to.
They'll be kinda ugly, but sure, you can leave the flower stalks on. It's a little extra photosynthetic area for the plant.
Kay
>HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.