On 3/16/11 7:23 AM, mj wrote:
On Mar 16, 11:17 am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 3/16/11 6:51 AM, mj wrote:

I planted tulip bulbs last fall, although a little later than I
probably should have, and they look healthy but the stem to the flower
is 1/2 an inch long. What gives? This is not the first time I have had
this happen either. Why can't I grow tulips?
MJ

Where are you? What is your climate?


Sorry, I should have said. I am in Eastern North Carolina. I have done
a little looking and it seems I should have refrigerated them for 8
weeks before I planted? Seems crazy, I don't think the little local
stores have them in 8 weeks prior.

If you are in an area where the weather is strongly influenced by the
ocean (e.g., as far east as possible), you might not get enough winter
chill for tulips. They actually do best if there is snow but without
the soil freezing at the depth where they are planted.

Where I live, the annual average of winter chill -- cumulative hours
below 45°F from November through March -- is about 350 hours. We get no
snow. Even with refrigerating the bulbs for 6-8 weeks before planting,
we have to treat most tulips as annuals, discarding them after one
season of bloom.

Some tulip species, however, can naturalize in my climate. I have
"lady" tulips (Tulipa clausiana), which repeat reliably every spring.
But these are not the classic "Dutch" tulips.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary