Ok. I live in Stamford, CT. I have 60 Tulip bulbs. Can I group them together or do the bulbs have to be seperate? If seperate how far apart? I know its 4-6 inches down but how far from eachother? I want a nice full garden of Tulips. Also will red mulch prevent them from blooming in the spring?
Thanks!

You should space your tulip bulbs 5-6" apart from each other. (you can space them at 4" apart if you want them more dense). This spacing translates to 5 bulbs per square foot. If you want a full garden of tulips, you may need more than 60 bulbs (take the amount of square footage you want to fill and multiply by 5).

Also You need to plant them a good 6-7 inches deep - 4 inches is too shallow.

As always, Leslie gives great advice! And to answer your other question: No, your mulch won't keep them from coming up and blooming in the spring. It will keep them comfortable until they are ready to come out and show their colors.

Oooops! Thanks Kathe, I forgot to address the mulch question!

Thanks for the reply!

Can I ask why you are using red mulch? I would recommend a more natural product that is relatively local. I don't know what your options are in CT but if you haven't bought it yet, don't. There must be some type of dye in it and who knows what the substrate is.
Tony M

Its a condo and I have to match the other common area. It looks good but I'll remember that for when I have a house about the red dye.

QUESTION: When the Tulips Die are the bulbs still good? And if so what do I need to do to the stem?

Thanks

YES! Your tulips are still good after they bloom!!!!!!! In your climate they should last a long time - some of the fancier varieties do not do as well the second year.

While bone meal is good and recommended by everyone and their mother at garden stores see if you can find something based on rock phosphate and some natural fertilizers for the other food. Bone meal is great stuff but critters like to dig when they smell it and cats seem to love to pee on it. Large rocks help with that (thrown at the cat).

I would HIGHLY recommend spacing the bulbs close together and in a tight group. Since tulips grow somewhat high I would also recommend that you check out blue grape (or white) hyacinths - they come up with a spike with a couple dozen blue/purple 'balls' that look a little like grapes. If you put the tulips in back, grape hyacinths next and a bunch of crocus in front of the hyacinths you will get a fabulous effect. I would also recommend going a little wild and planting 3-4 Crown Imperials behind the tulips - they are huge and expensive but breathtaking. Regular Hyacinths grow very nicely in your climate and the smell makes Honeysuckle smell like a dead skunk by comparison.

Hope some of that helps

The grape hyacinths and crocus will naturalize (baby bulbs come off the main one and they come back with more each year - I dig mine out and seperate them every year when i redo the bulb display... started with 50 of the blue grapes and now have hundreds - fun plant!

Ok, one more thing - Pansies and violas make wonderful low growing companions for the bulbs in Spring.

PS> No, you can't send me the bill if you follow that plan (all but the Crown Imperials are cheap). Make your neighbors chip in if you do all the work!

I have a deal with my mother in law - she promises to beat ovarian cancer for another year and I promise to make next Spring's bulbs prettier than last year's in her yard - last year was over 800 tulips alone so next Spring will be pretty wild.



Use a good quality fertilizer