I am about an hour north of Seattle. They have been stored in my cold
garage all winter on a newspaper lined shelf. They are not sprouting at
this time. Thanks for the tip.

--
Misty T.

"WiGard" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 11:09:01 -0800, mtostenrude wrote:


Hello, I have been looking for some information on Tulip planting. Last
summer, we pulled up all of our gardens for re-landscaping-I wasn't
happy
with what the builder had had done and we changed it all to be very
lovely. I had fully intended to replant the tulip bulbs in the fall and
then got very ill and was unable to do so. By the time I was on my feet
again it was December and a little too cold up here in Washington-not to
mention the rain. Anyways, my question is, can I start the bulbs
inside,
or plant them and have them still bloom this year? If not, then I will
plant something different for this year so that I at least have my color
in my garden, I just really love my tulips, seeing them pop up always
tells me that Spring has arrived.


You're not the first to do this.

You didn't indicate where you live or whether the bulbs have begun to
sprout. How were they stored?

Tulips require a cold period to bloom.

What we recommended to a neighbor who had sprouting bulbs stored in her
basement is thus:

Using cardboard boxes, put a few inches of potting soil in the bottom.
Place the bulbs on top of that layer of soil and at the recommended
spacing. Then cover with 6" of soil. Set outdoors and mulch with snow,
if you have any. Let the bulbs do their thing and then once the leaves
die back, dig them up and store until late September or early October and
replant. You may get some blooms this year but you should have more next.