Too late for tulips?

[IGot2P]

SE Iowa, zone 5

Last fall we purchased a couple of hundred tulip bulbs simply because they were on sale at Menards or somewhere similar. As happens many years we never got around to getting them planted last fall. They are all still in bags in our shop (about 50 degrees F) and some are starting to sprout.

Can we save them by doing any of the following?

1.) Simply plant them as is in VERY early spring. 2.) Stick them in our deep freeze until spring and then plant. 3.) Bury them outside under some mulch and then plant in spring.

Anyway suggestions would be welcome.

Cheers,

us

[PJCH08]

Replying to your post - per instructor in my on-line internet class....

[IGot2P]

....and he/she taught you to top post?

[SteveB]

Top posting saves time. Like texting. Get used to it.

Steve

[Phisherman]

Go ahead and plant them. You probably won't get blooms, but they will be able to make food for next spring's bloom.

[dr-solo]

bulbs bought at hardware stores have a really bad track record for even coming up much less blooming. I would take a selection and try planting them now and see if they come up and bloom indoors. if your test does, then go ahead and plant the others. Ingrid

[John McGaw]

I would say plant them ASAP and add a couple of inches of mulch but don't expect any decent blooms -- or any blooms at all -- from the survivors during the first season. Definitely don't put them in the deepfreeze. The worst that will happen is that the bulbs won't develop at all and in that case you will have added some expensive organic material to your bed and will have learned a lesson.

[Bill R]

I agree. Plant them as soon as you can or bury them under some mulch now if the ground is frozen. And just so that you know, you NEVER want to freeze bulbs. Tulips need to be cooled for about 12 weeks but they should never be stored below 35 degrees. Storing them at 50 degrees may be good enough to get them to bloom this season.

[Bill R]

I don't find that to be true. I am one of those people that pick up a lot of "close out" bulbs every year (no matter who is selling them). I've never had a problem with them not blooming. Usually, around Thanksgiving, stores here have them for 75 percent off, and, around here, that is a good time to plant them.