Can Potted Tulips Be Replanted in Gardens?

Considerations

• In general, you can replant potted tulips only if you take care of the bulbs and properly prepare them for replanting. Because potted tulips grow in greenhouses and receive different care than standard tulip bulbs, they may not re-bloom in your garden. Potted tulips are forced, and often treated with fertilizers, hormones or special food so they will bloom earlier than normal. As a result, the bulbs may not react normally when planted in outdoor soil without all of the special treatment.

Preparing Potted Bulbs

• Replanting the bulbs from a potted tulip requires preparing the bulbs ahead of time. Essentially, you need to nourish the bulbs and keep them healthy so they will survive over the winter in the ground. When the potted flowers bloom, keep them moist and cool. When the flowers pass, remove the dead petals and put the pot outside; if the temperatures are still below freezing, move the pot to a warm, sunny spot. Keep watering the leaves so they stay healthy. The longer the leaves stay healthy, the more nourishment the bulbs will receive, and the more likely they are to survive and re-bloom.

Planting Potted Bulbs

• When the leaves on your potted tulip die -- which will happen when the temperatures climb over 70 degrees for several days -- remove the leaves and dig out the bulbs. You can either plant the bulbs in your garden right away, or store them over the summer to plant in the fall. If you want to wait for fall planting, store the bulbs in a cool, dry and dark place. If the bulbs start to rot or smell bad before you plant them, throw them away. They will not grow, even in the best conditions.

Expectations

• Bulbs from potted tulips are unreliable. If the bulbs were healthy to start with, and got enough nourishment from the leaves when it did bloom, they have a better chance. In some cases, the potted bulbs may not bloom in the first year, but will in subsequent years. Plant the bulbs with other tulip bulbs. Their unreliability makes them a poor choice to base your garden on, and chances are, they will be a different variety or color than other tulips in the garden.