How to Put Potted Tulips Outdoors

Potted tulips provide a springtime centerpiece inside the home, but enjoy them for more than a single season by moving the pots outdoors. Pots don't provide enough room for the tulip bulbs to replenish themselves for future flowering, so it's necessary to move the bulbs into a garden bed. The tulips return each spring with a fresh flush of flowers. Once the potted tulips are moved outside, they may flower later in the year as they follow their natural rhythm, and not being forced to flower.

Soluble fertilizer
Shears
Compost

Instructions

- 1
  Move the tulips outdoors to a wind-protected area after most danger of frost has passed in your area. Move the pots into a more exposed location that receives direct sunlight gradually over a seven-day period, so the plant adjusts to outdoor conditions.
- 2
  Water the tulips when the soil surface feels dry -- as often as once daily for outdoor pots. Water once weekly with a soluble-fertilizer solution mixed with the irrigation water at the rate recommended on the package.
- 3
  Cut off the flowers with shears once they wilt and die. Trim off the foliage once it yellows and dies back, approximately six weeks after flowering is done.
- 4
  Clear a garden bed in an area that receives full sunlight. Incorporate a 2-inch layer of compost into the soil.
- 5
  Remove the dormant tulip bulbs from the pot. Plant them in the bed so the top of the bulb sits 5 inches beneath the soil surface. Space the bulbs 4 inches apart. The bulbs resume growth the following spring.

When Can Tulips Be Moved?

Companion Plants for Orange Lilies

Bulbs