Tulip bulbs not growing

Dave Page
by Dave Page
We planted 25 of the new Canada 150 tulip bulbs last fall. Only 4 have come up and wondering if anyone has any thought s or tips on why.
  7 answers
  • Hillela G. Hillela G. on May 15, 2017

    The overwhelmingly most common reason why tulips leaf out but don’t bloom is simply that the environment needed for tulips to bloom every year is very specific. Tulips evolved in the mountains where it is often dry and there are hot summers and cold winters. Tulips planted in our gardens may not get this exact environment and they have a hard time forming a flower bud without it. Another less likely possibility for non flowering tulips is a lack of nutrients. All flower bulbs, not just tulips, need phosphorus in order to form flower buds. If your soil is lacking phosphorus, your tulips will not bloom every year.


    Read more at Gardening Know How: Tips For Getting Tulips To Rebloom https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/tulips/tulips-bloom-every-year.htm

    • Dave Page Dave Page on May 15, 2017

      It's not the fact that they aren't blooming--they haven't even come out of the ground except for 4 or 5.

  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on May 15, 2017

    this has been a very trying growing season to date all over. be patient and wait it out.

  • Loretta Loretta on May 16, 2017

    Could be the voles dined on them over winter. Check to see if you have a vole problem

    • Dave Page Dave Page on May 16, 2017

      where we live the ground freezes solid and these tulips are in a raised flower bed. Don't believe we have "voles".

  • Nancy Turner Nancy Turner on May 16, 2017

    I had some of the tulips I planted last fall come up after others did. I had a few tulips that have been in the ground for years come up about two weeks earlier than the new ones.

  • Loretta Loretta on May 16, 2017

    How deep is the soil in the raised bed?

    • Dave Page Dave Page on May 16, 2017

      approximately two feet. It is 4ft x 8ft big. We grew potatoes there for the last five or six years and had no problems. Also a few carrots and lettuce sometimes too. Out of the 25 there are four or five in the ground beside the flower bed and they came up but only one so far in the flower bed and it is about six inches tall already.

  • Loretta Loretta on May 17, 2017

    If your ground freezes more than 2 feet deep, your bulbs could be freezing especially in a raised bed.

  • Dave Page Dave Page on May 17, 2017

    I live in Manitoba, Canada--our ground almost always freezes that deep. However,we have other flowers such as tiger lilies, bee balm, peonies, and others that are not affected.