My tulips are returning... I thought they were annual!?! that's what it said on the package but both my tulips have returned and are getting nice and big. I also think the bleeding hearts that I planted last year and thought I lost are coming back as well! I'm excited, they look like bleeding hearts, I don't have pictures of them yet because i'm lazy and I just didn't feel like getting pictures and I was in a hurry to do other things, but I'm excited for this year! I am not waiting for memorial day to plant because it's soo far away, but I have to get my garden set up very soon I'm excited
That is good news! Tulips are long-lived perennials and will return year after year. Just leave the foliage until it turns yellow, and a bit of fertilizer added when planting helps. Which brings us to planting--tulip bulbs multiply, and every four or five years they should be lifted, separated, and then replanted. Fall is a good time to do this, except that's when it's hardest to find where the tulips are! Let us see photos, and I do hope your bleeding hearts are coming back!
Depending on your winters they will return for many years. They need 12-14 weeks of cold weather to develop flowers. Down here we are lucky to get 12-14 days of cold weather so they have to be pre-chilled before planting or all you get are pretty green leaves.
I can understand your excitement! In the spring, if any bulbs need to be divided in the fall, I circle the plant with the flattened craft marbles so I know where they are and how big around so I, hopefully, won't cut into the bulbs.
What a good idea 2ofus. I'll have to do this with my Lilies this Spring, already "lost" the crocus so digging them up to divide is going to be hit-or-miss.
awesome advice and knowledge guys, thanks we get plenty of cold here in upstate ny so I don't have to worry about that lol!! I'm just very excited to get them back. I'll have pictures soon, when i'm not too lazy or busy :3
Bleeding Hearts die back each year but come back again in the spring. I'm glad to hear that both your tulips and your BH are doing so well for you.
I didn't think the bleeding hearts would come back because they died off early last spring, didn't even make it into summer, but they look good now. oh and my tulips!!
Yours are really pretty, congratulations!!! The Bleeding Hearts die back to the ground when the heat of summer arrives. They store energy for next years growth through the leaves just like bulbs do, so don't cut them off completely until they are yellow and withered. They stay dormant during the hot weather and come back in early Spring.
Good advice Toni. I can get my Bleeding Hearts to make in into July by keeping them well watered. But as soon as the summer heats up they slowly die back. Mine are blooming right now. So I know that the Humming Birds can't be far behind in there return to Wis.
Ah See i didn't know that. The package told me to plant when the frost was clear in spring so I never got any flowers last year. So here to hoping I get some this year, thanks a bunch for the advice