[Casey76]

Here's to many daft questions from me today...

Should tulip bulbs be lifted once the foliage has died back?

I normally leave them in and let them spread naturally, so I have a couple of clumps which produce a lovely display year on year - though I've found that over the years, the flowers have lost thier stripe and are now mainly a plain cream colour (rather than cream and red stripe)

When I planted my new tulips, I did plant them in bulb baskets on the off chance I should left them.

2nd question: If i did lift them, how do I store them - do they need any special care etc?

[sion01]

If they aren't species tulips you should collect as much of the dead/dyeing foliage as possible as it can leave a virus called tulip fire in the soil which weaken the bulb year on year.In the past I would have told you just to feed them with a bit of bone meal every spring and collect the dead foliage and petals but I don't know if anybody else saw Monty Dons advice on gardeners world a few months ago.He suggested that you treat them as an annual and dig them up each year and throw them away as he said that the flower will only weaken year on year.Which might be the best advice if you have a TV company paying for your bulbs but for me I try to squeeze as much years out of them as I can.I've got an RHS book on bulbs and it doesn't suggest binning them after a year.

But if the flowers are showing signs of weakening it might be worth getting new ones as they might be affected by virus and it would be a pity to carry it  to clean ground.If you decide to move them this is what RHS say for Tulips
1 When leaves turn yellow,about 4-6 weeks after flowering,gently lift with a fork.Store them temporarily in labelled containers(In a dry airy place id imagine to let them dry out)

2 Clean the soil off the bulbs and rub off any loose tunics.Cut or carefully pull off the dyeing foliage.Discard any damaged or diseased bulbs

3 Place the bulbs on a wire tray and leave them to dry overnight.Dust with fungicide and store in a cool dry place clearly labelled paper bags 

[bendipa]

Here's to many daft questions from me today...

Should tulip bulbs be lifted once the foliage has died back?

I normally leave them in and let them spread naturally, so I have a couple of clumps which produce a lovely display year on year - though I've found that over the years, the flowers have lost thier stripe and are now mainly a plain cream colour (rather than cream and red stripe)

When I planted my new tulips, I did plant them in bulb baskets on the off chance I should left them.

2nd question: If i did lift them, how do I store them - do they need any special care etc?

You can let modern tulips clump for 3 years in the ground, but after that they should be lifted once the foliage has died down, and the bulbs divided to retain vigour. Remove the small bulblets first. Then I clean  the mature bulbs and when dried out I dust them with sulphur powder to avoid mould attacking them. I store these bulbs in something airy like one of those onion string bags out of the sun. The small bulblets are left in a container and planted out in a spare plot in autumn until they are mature enough to flower.

[Goosegirl]

I read or saw something that said to nip the flower pod off the end of the stalk after flowering by bending it over and it just snaps off. I think it is to do with the roots and leaves putting energy back into the bulb; I always do thih and don't lift mine - they seem to carry on ok.