What to Do With Tulips After They Bloom to Ensure Show-Stopping Blossoms Every Year

Tulips are a quintessential spring flower, blooming just in time to grace Easter holiday tables and make for wonderful Mother’s Day gifts. However, while these flowers are technically perennials, they can peter out in the years after their first bloom. Thankfully, there are ways to encourage them to come back and put on a vibrant show.

Here, we spoke to experts about the secrets to a beautiful tulip display year after year. Follow these care tips for colorful blooms that truly capture the joy of springtime.

Fertilizer at Planting and After Blooming

Fertilizer is not 100% necessary for outdoor tulip beds, but it can enhance their growth, according to Montgomery. She recommends using an organic, low-nitrogen bulb fertilizer, such as Espoma Bulb-tone, at planting time, and then again after the bulbs bloom in spring, which can give the tired bulbs a boost.

Follow the package directions for amounts. “More is not better,” she says. It's also important to use a fertilizer made for bulbs, as they have different requirements. Many bulb suppliers sell their own brand.

Deadhead the Blooms

Although most tulip types have “diminishing returns” in the garden, according to Bunting, what you do after the flowers fade can make a difference. Once tulips bloom in spring, clip off the spent flower heads to prevent energy from going into seed production.

Leave the Foliage

Although you should deadhead the blooms, let the leaves die back naturally, which can take 4 to 6 weeks. Don’t braid, tie, or cut them too early. “Leave the foliage intact until it dies back naturally—this helps recharge the bulbs for the following season,” Montgomery says.

Store Bulbs for Fall

If you're treating tulips as annuals—meaning you’re digging up the bulbs to plant in the fall—then follow these steps for proper bulb storage:

1. Wait until the tulip foliage dies back entirely.
2. Gently dig them up, keeping in mind that they’re 8 inches or so deep with roots.
3. Shake off all soil and snip off any dead leaves and roots, being careful not to cut into the bulbs. 
4. Set them out on newspaper and let them dry for several days or a week. 
5. Store them in a cardboard box or paper bag with good air circulation in a dark and dry place, such as a basement or cellar until it’s time to replant them in the fall. Check them regularly for mold and remove any that are rotting. 
   

Other Steps to Ensure Future Blooms

Proper care after blooming is essential, but there are other factors to consider to coax tulips into blooming year after year.

Knowing Which Type of Tulip You're Planting

“Make sure you’re planting perennial varieties," says Peggy Anne Montgomery, a horticulturist with Garden Media Group. "This will give you the best chance for re-bloom." For best results, purchase bulbs that are specifically marked as suitable for naturalizing or perennializing. Montgomery recommends the following:

Species: Also called botanic tulips, species tulips are the closest relatives of the first ones collected, and that ultimately hybridized into the large tulips we grow today. Plant these small, brightly colored tulips in large quantities for a stunning spring display. Best for zones 3 through 7.

Darwin Hybrid: These hybrids have strong stems that withstand windy spring weather. Large flowers provide a long-lasting color display that can re-bloom for several years. Best for zone 3 through 8—but don't cut the flowers if you want them to naturalize.

Fosteriana: Also called Emperor tulips because of their massive flowers, this group is more prevalent in Europe and is one of the better types for perennializing and naturalizing. Best for zones 3 through 8.

Greigii: These reliably perennial tulips bloom in two-tone shades with purple mottled or striped foliage. They make an excellent addition to borders and rock gardens. Best for zones 3 through 8.

Kaufmannia: Also known as waterlily tulips, these early bloomers have short stems and large blooms in various colors, most with contrasting centers. These compact growers are excellent for rock garden edges, window boxes, and pots—so long as they're protected from freezing in colder areas. Best for zones 3 through 8.

Choose the Right Spot

Soil and Sun: When planting tulip bulbs in the fall (October through November, around six weeks before the first frost), you’ll want to choose a planting bed with moist but well-drained soil that gets full sun—ideally six hours per day—or light shade.

Avoid areas with standing water, Montgomery notes, as soggy bulbs will rot. It may be helpful to add organic matter, such as cow manure, compost, or peat moss, to help with drainage.

The Right Bed: You’ll also want to pick a spot with little to no competition from other plants, says Andrew Bunting, vice president of horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. 

“Tulip bulbs do best in a bed where there's little disturbance—not an established garden,” he says. “If you have a small bed along the foundation or along the driveway where it's not too wet, and it benefits from some reflective heat, then you might get a little flowering in subsequent years.”

Water Just Enough

Though you’ll want to water tulip beds right after planting to establish a good root system, they’ll need minimal watering after that. 

“Normal spring rain is generally enough,” Montgomery says. However, if your area is experiencing a drought, then she recommends watering thoroughly every two weeks.