Do Tulips bulbs produce year after year in the Triangle Climate? (Raleigh: house, organic)

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

I planted some Tulip bulbs this year and they came up great in March/April. They are about finished at this point. This is the first time I've planted bulbs in this area. Is the climate right for them to produce new flowers year after year or are the bulbs only good for one year of flowers in this area?

Thanks!

[CHTransplant]

I've had success over multiple years with tulips and other bulbs.

[xylemphloem]

Tulips are right on the edge here. I have species tulips that come up year after year, but their quality depends a lot on how good of a freeze we got the winter before. "Fancier" tulips, for lack of a better distinction, tend to struggle or not come back at all. You'd do best to cut off the spent flowers and leave the leaves for as long as they are green before cutting them back, and fertilize with a bulb fertilizer in the fall.

[frankpc]

Most tulips are not considered "reliably perennial" in the Triangle.
Between the typical lack of deep cold and the hungry deer all I typically see is green stems ...

Frank

[lamishra]

I have some and while some do come back every year, they really don't do very well. SOme come up out of the ground with the leaves but never bloom, some bloom, some don't come up one year, but come up the next.

[gunni]

I love Tulips, but unfortunately havent had much success after the initial season even with premium bulbs.

Daffodils, on the other hand come back every year with minimum fuss

[RaleighLass]

Originally Posted by lamishra

I have some and while some do come back every year, they really don't do very well. SOme come up out of the ground with the leaves but never bloom, some bloom, some don't come up one year, but come up the next.

My experience was the very same! Also had a similar experience with Iris plants. Although I do have one blooming this year - finally!

[AmazinGracie]

Whenever I planted tulips in Texas (Zone 8), I'd refrigerate the bulbs for 6-8 weeks before planting at the beginning of November. Also, once they bloomed, I'd deadhead the blooms when they were passed their prime, but didn't remove foliage until it had yellowed. Then I would spread a slow-release organic fertilizer designed for bulbs over the soil after tulips had flowered but before their foliage had gone.

I've also dug up the bulbs, stored them in a dark, cool place over the summer, and replanted them in the fall.

[CHTransplant]

Originally Posted by RaleighLass

My experience was the very same! Also had a similar experience with Iris plants. Although I do have one blooming this year - finally!

Our purple irises are thriving and multiplying year by year. I don't know if it makes a difference, but they were dug from decades (century?) old collections of a friend.

[dansdrive]

The ones that came with our house come up every year....have not seen this years but I bet they were up! They come every year like a bull dog on a pork chop! I would say they are 'bulbs' that never burn out!