"carbuff" wrote in message
news:3LF3g.75039$WI1.58438@pd7tw2no...
This is my second growing season in a 30-yr old house with some
established gardens. Last year, the tulip patch of about 10 or 12 plants
had the most glorious rich red blooms. Well, they came up a few days ago,
and the color has bleached out to a vermillion shade, which, if I'd seen
for the 1st time would say is nice, but knowing what they were like last
year, I'm bummed out.
Is this a normal thing to happen with tulips? Would the fact that I
mistakenly dead-headed not only the flowers, but the leaves as well last
year cause this? After the fact, I read somewhere that you should let the
leaves alone in order to promote bulb growth or something, so perhaps I'm
lucky that they came back at all?



Yes, you should let the leaves grow until they begin to yellow. Plant other
things to hide them if the ugliness detracts from the appearance of your
flower bed.

As far as the color changing, the likely cause is an otherwise harmless
virus. More about this (and worth reading):
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/...lipomania.html