I know how popular “tips” are among web surfers, so I’ll call these tips. They’re great ideas from my friend Ilene Sternberg, writing in the October 2007 issue of Fine Gardening Magazine.

Best Tulip Types for Blooms the Next Year

If they’re labeled as “perennializing” or “naturalizing,” that’s a good bet but especially if the bulbs are of these types:

• Tulipa kaufmanniana or “waterlily tulips” and their hybrids. They’re hardy in Zones 4-8 and according to Ilene, reliable rebloomers. (Photo above.)
• Emperor tulips (T. fosteriana) and their hybrids, which are also hardy in Zones 4-8.
• Greiggi tulips (T. greigii) and their hybrids. Hardy in Zones 4-8.
• Darwin Hybrids (photo right), Single Early, Double Early and some Triumph tulilps also perennialize.

What to Do with Them

• Good drainage is KEY to tulip survival ( to prevent disease and rot). To improve drainage, add organic matter like compost, or coarse sand to the soil.1
  

  

• Plant in mid to late autumn (in November in my Zone 7 garden), plant the tulips deeply — like 8 to 10 inches deep, measured from the base. Water imediately after planting.
• After the blooms fade, remove flowers but allow the foliage to die naturally.
• A low-nitrogen fertilizer at fall planting time and each fall thereafter is suggested, too.