Features of tulips
Tulips are one of the most popular plants in gardens. Currently, there are more than 100 species, more than 15,000 varieties have already been bred.
Tulips are annual plants that will delight us in the spring if planted in the fall. It is good to plant different varieties to enjoy them until the end of May.
Tulips delight us in spring[/ caption]The underground part of tulips is an annual bulb, which is a modified, shortened shoot, consisting of a heel and several fleshy, white scales. All this is surrounded by a dry coating that protects the bulb from high temperatures and water loss.
How to prepare a place for growing tulips
Planting tulips begins with the preparation of the land. They like flat or elevated terrain where water will not stand. The soil must be carefully dug up and then leveled.
For tulips, choose a sunny or slightly shaded place, fertile and moist, but not very dense soil with a high content of humus. You can enrich the soil with an admixture of compost or deoxidized peat. Heavy and clay soil can be loosened with coarse sand, which will protect the bulbs from rotting in too wet soil.
For tulips choose a sunny place[/ caption]Having chosen the correct position, prepare the substrate by digging it and selecting the weeds. For good development of tulips, it is necessary to feed the soil with a slow-acting fertilizer.
Tulip bulbs should be healthy and strong, have a smooth coating without damage or cracks.
Note! The bulb dies, and in its place a substitute is formed, which gives a flower the next year. Around it, several smaller adnexal bulbs are formed, which, having reached the appropriate size, will bloom in subsequent years.
After the growing season (usually early July), when the leaves of the tulips have completely turned yellow, the bulbs are dug up and placed in a dry, protected from moisture place so that they can go dormant.
They are planted in autumn, preferably in October, so that they take root before the onset of winter, but do not release leaves. After the bulbs are planted in the ground, they will first give roots, accumulate water in order to survive the cold period. Planting sites of the bulbs are covered with a layer of bark or leaves.
Bulbs prepared in this way will bloom in spring when the soil warms up under the influence of the warm rays of the sun. When planted in spring, they will be weak or bloom the next season. It can also happen that such a bow rots.
How to plant tulip bulbs?
Tulips look best in groups of 5-7 pieces – then aesthetic flower arrangements will be created. Avoid planting in rows!
Additional Information! Large solid color groups will look great in large gardens. If you mix different varieties, this will create a very effective carpet of flowers.
A very elegant combination will also create tulips of the same color group, but in different shades, as well as pastel colors. Between them, you can plant other bulbous plants, such as daffodils or hyacinths, matched by color.
Tulips and daffodils [/ caption]Tulip bulbs are planted at a depth of three times their height, with a pointed end up. Usually it is from 10 to 15 cm, so it is best to dig a hole to a depth of 15-20 cm. This rule applies to planting tulips, regardless of location. It is worth remembering that the larger the bulb, the greater the depth, and also that in lighter soil they are planted deeper than in heavier ones.
How to plant tulips in baskets?
It is best to place the bulbs in special baskets, greatly facilitating the care of tulips. Growing them is relatively easy, but to make it even easier, it’s worth investing in bulb growing baskets.
What do onion baskets look like? Baskets for bulbs are special openwork containers. They provide free access to the substrate, water and nutrients. In addition, they make planting and digging bulbs easier, making the whole process extremely simple and practical.
Onion basketsOnion baskets can have different shapes (circle, rectangle, square), depth and width. Thanks to this, they can be easily adjusted to the size and number of planted bulbs. Baskets are made of weather-resistant plastic, which will last for many years.
What does landing in containers give? Bulb baskets are primarily intended to facilitate the gardener’s care of bulbous and tuberous plants. Their use is extremely simple – just put the right number of bulbs, and then place the basket in the prepared hole. All this should be covered with soil and the plants should be taken care of according to their needs.
The bulb basket does not affect either the planting process or the procedures performed (eg watering or fertilizing). Thanks to their special, openwork structure, they do not interfere with growing, and besides, they can facilitate it, benefiting both the gardener and the plants themselves.
Openwork containers protect the bulbs from rodents that can damage them. The planted bulbs will not get lost, will not die in the ground, their place will be clearly marked, which will make it easier to dig them out in the summer. Tulips will grow at the distances that we plan ourselves.
Note! In general, planting tulip bulbs in baskets and containers does not differ from the usual planting in a flower bed.
The bulbs are placed heels down at a distance of 5–15 cm from each other in openwork containers with a layer of substrate at the bottom. Baskets are placed in the ground to a depth of about 10 cm and covered with earth.
Baskets are placed in the ground [/ caption]The landing site can be carefully leveled with a rake. Planted bulbs are watered only once. In autumn, the soil is already quite well moistened, so there is no need for additional watering. Tulip bulbs do not like too much soil moisture, so excess water in the substrate can only harm them, leading to decay.
When the first frosts come, mulch the soil with leaves or pine bark.
All types of bulbs can be planted in baskets. Bulbs and tubers of many plants need to be dug up in a timely manner. During this procedure, the bulbs are easily damaged. Planting in a basket means there is no risk of damaging them.
