How to Care For Tulips in a Pot?

Learn How to Care For Tulips in a Pot or Container For a Dazzling Spring Display

Create a lovely spring display with colorful tulips planted in a pot. Plant on their own or combine with other spring flower bulbs such as daffodils to extend the blooming season.

How to Care For Tulips in a Pot Outside

Tulip bulbs in a pot should be planted in the fall. Choose a pot with drainage holes. Half fill with soil or compost and plant the tulip bulbs with their pointed ends upwards. You can plant them closely but make sure that the tulips aren’t touching as this will cause them to rot. Fill in with soil and water well, then set in a sheltered position for the winter. When the tulips start to grow in spring, move the pot to a sunny position.

How to Care For Tulips in a Container: Aftercare

Tulips grown in a pot are subject to more stress than they would be if they were growing in the ground; this makes them unlikely to bloom again next season. If you're wondering what to do with potted tulips after they bloom, it’s best to discard the bulbs after they have bloomed and choose new ones to plant next fall.

How to Care For Tulips in a Container: The Lasagne Method

To create lovely color combinations and to extend the blooming period, you can layer bulbs in a pot, rather like constructing a lasagne. Choose a deep pot with good drainage. Add a couple of inches of soil then plant the bulbs that will bloom the latest. Add another layer of soil and then plant an earlier flowering variety. You can finish the pot with a layer of very early bulbs such as crocus or add other spring plants such as wallflowers, pansies or daisies.

Now that you’ve learned how to care for tulips in a pot, the only difficulty is to decide which of the hundreds of varieties of tulip to plant. For more inspiration, visit our tulip collection, where you’ll also discover more handy tips on how to grow flower bulbs.