How to Plant Tulip Bulbs in Pots

BlogTulips

Oct 1

By Heather Bolen

*Pots of Tulips*, 1885, Claude Monet, Public Domain via WikiCommons

About six years ago, I unexpectedly landed in New York City and realized it was time to learn how to plant tulips in pots. Spruce up my new balcony with my favorite springtime flower.

Tulips have always been a longtime love. But I became totally smitten while living as an ex-pat in Amsterdam. From the canal-side flower markets to the wallpapered tulip fields, Holland dazzles with spectacular color.

I had big plans of planting an elaborate tulip garden in the front yard when I returned to the States.

Rather than returning to Seattle, however, I took a detour to Manhattan (and never left). For whatever reason, planting tulips in a container felt intimidating. Impossibile. Unnatural.

It turns out, though, planting tulip bulbs in pots mostly follows the same rules as planting bulbs in the ground. In other words, it’s fairly simple.

And, wouldn’t you know it, the Dutch have a tried-and-true approach to creating overflowing tulip pots that last the full spring season. They call it “bulb lasagne.”

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Plant in fall
Plant tulip bulbs in containers in late October, November, and December, the same as for your garden. A good rule of thumb is to put soil into the pot and wait to plant tulip bulbs when the soil is below 60°F.
Tulips need to be dormant for 12-16 weeks before they can bloom, but it’s important to protect bulbs from undergoing a freeze-and-thaw cycle, which turns potted bulbs into mush. If you’re expecting unusually cold or warm winters, you will need to bring your pots inside to an unheated garage, basement, shed—anywhere that stays consistently cold (no warmer than 60ºF), ventilated, and dark. The goal is to keep the planted bulbs just above freezing, between 35-45°F. With a larger pot, it is possible to leave bulbs out all winter (see #2).
Plant in a Large Container
Tulips need a large container. You want a minimum diameter of 18”, with an outside height of at least 15”. If you use a smaller container your flowers will have less of an impact, and the bulbs might not thrive. You can purchase plastic, ceramic, or terracotta pots to plant tulips.
If your pots need to stay outside all winter long, you’ll have to go even bigger, and get a container that’s at least 24” in diameter. This way the pot will have enough soil to isolate the bulbs and protect them from freezing.
Use well-draining soil
Tulips hate cold and wet. Soggy soil is death to tulip bulbs. Fill a well-draining container with loose soil. You can use a mix of potting soil and sandy soil to mimic the ground the bulbs came from. Do not use garden soil. Fertilizer is not necessary, but you can mulch with organic matter / peat-free compost.
Make sure your container has holes in it for water to drain out of.
Plant bulbs with the pointy end up, full sun
Tulips like full sun, although in warmer climates partial shade is required. Place the tulip bulbs, pointy end up, blunt end down, same as in the garden.
Go Dutch!
To get dense and flowery spring pot displays, it’s best to layer bulbs in what the Dutch call a bulb lasagne – several layers of bulbs one on top of another with compost in between. The largest and latest flowering bulbs go in deepest, moving to the smallest and earliest in the top layer. The emergent shoots of the lower layer bulbs just bend around anything they hit sitting over their heads and keep on growing.
Done like this, you need to plant the bulbs slightly further apart than you would in a pot with a single layer, so 2-3cm (1-1½in) apart is about right. The first layer can go as deep as 28-30cm (11-12in), then cover them over with 5cm (2in) of potting compost, before you place the next layer of bulbs.
One idea is to do the display beginning with species tulips that last really well and are not as affected by rain and wind. You can also layer bulbs that flower at different times, which can provide a prolonged display in spring.
Note: If you are only planting in a single layer, place the tulip bulbs in a tight circular pattern so that the bulbs almost touch. Just ensure they don’t touch each other.
Water once after planting. Then Stop.
Please! Once again, soggy soil will rot the bulbs and the flowers will not grow. Check on your pots in early spring. Water them lightly. When the tulips start peeking above the surface, water as you would any container plant; the tulips will bloom at the same time as those planted in the ground.
Note: If you’ve brought your pots indoors to a cold, dry place for the winter, you may need to give them the tiniest amount of water each week.