What is the Best Month to Plant Tulips?
The tulip season is about to begin in Gloucestershire, but when to plant tulips for the best blooms? Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just someone who loves a bright, cheerful bloom, tulips are a must-have in the spring garden.
If you’re in a hurry you can buy them in pots ‘ready made’ from garden centres from early April and just pop them in your spring garden for instant impact. Be warned…this is the deluxe method of when to plant tulips, you may be tempted by displays of all sorts of flowering bulbs and other plants! 
If you are prepared to wait the perfect planting time for tulip bulbs is in November, it might be a while to wait, but for best results, autumn is the best time to plant spring flowering bulbs.
When to Plant Tulips: Late, But Not Too Late!
November is the best month to plant tulip bulbs. They prefer to be planted later than most other bulbs. 
A hard frost can help guard them against a disease called tulip fire (also known as tulip blight). This rots the bulbs and causes the leaves to develop a twisted, scorched look. If you’ve had this problem before don’t plant tulip bulbs in the same soil for at least three years. Put them in a container instead.
A rule of thumb, when planting bulbs is to plant each bulb twice as deep as its height. If you are buying from a garden centre most bulbs will come with instruction as to the ideal depth, but it can get a little confusing so I just remember that the bigger the bulb the deeper into the ground it will need to go. This is because the larger the bulb, the larger the eventual growth will be.
Where to Buy Tulip Bulbs
You can buy bulbs online, but I prefer to buy mine at a local garden centre where I can see exactly what I’m paying for! Don’t buy bulbs that are squashy. They should be hard, like an onion. Sometimes you’ll see a fungal sheen on the tulip bulbs, these are also to be avoided.
Where to Plant for the Best Blooms
Tulips aren’t too fussy, but they do have some preferences. They love well-draining soil (nobody likes wet feet, not even tulips!) and a sunny spot. If your soil is heavy clay, add some grit or plant them in raised beds to keep them happy. Keep them spaced out to about 15 cm apart so they can really show off when they bloom.
Pots or Borders? Both, Please!
One of the best things about tulips is their versatility. Pop them in borders for a classic cottage garden look, or plant them in pots if you’re short on space. If you’re going for pots, layer them up with other bulbs like daffodils and crocus for a longer-lasting display – it’s called ‘lasagne planting,’ and it’s as genius as it sounds.
When to Plant Tulips – Protect from Squirrels!
Beware of squirrels – those little garden bandits love tulip bulbs. If you’ve found in the past that your tulips have ‘disappeared’ inexplicably over the winter, squirrels are usually the culprits. Try covering the area with netting until they’re established.
Can you Leave Tulips in the Ground all Year in Gloucestershire?
Yes, is the simple answer… with a caveat. Some of my tulips flower year after year with no particular ‘issues.’ Others just simply don’t look happy after the first year. For a really good, reliable display treat them as annuals, I’ve concluded that some varieties do better as a one-hit wonder. If they look weak in their second year, just plant fresh ones.
When to Plant Tulips for a Perfect Display.
Whether you love classic reds, bright yellows, or those dreamy, frilly-edged varieties, there’s a tulip for every taste. If you want to create large bold sweeps of Tulips, it’s best to buy them in bulk and use several different varieties for impact.
My favourite variety, ‘Queen of the Night,’ as the name implies, is a, sultry, dark shade. To bring out the colour, I combine it with another beauty, ‘Shirley’, mainly white with a purple edge. The two complement each other but as white, in colour schemes, tends to dominate, use the white bulbs more sparingly if you’re going to give this combination a try. Tulips look wonderful in most plant combinations but I love to see self-seeding forget-me-nots interspersed with punctuations of dramatic colour from tulips. A perfect spring scene!
For more inspiration on how to use tulips in the garden, Dyrham Park, near Bath hosts a “Tulip Mania” event with displays of black and white tulips in the parterre, jewel-coloured tulips in the borders, and a special variety inspired by Dyrham Park in Fountain Court.
If you want help choosing or planting bulbs, and live in the Gloucestershire area, please contact us, we’d be pleased to advise you.
