Planting Tulip Bulbs

November 22, 2025

More spring-flowering bulbs are planted at the farm. The latest batch - hundreds of gorgeous and colorful tulips!

If you like spring flowers in your garden, autumn is the time to plant the bulbs because they require a sustained dormant period of cold temperatures in order to stimulate root development. I plant lots of bulbs every year - daffodils, Dutch Iris, Camassia, alliums, etc. It’s exciting to see the swaths of color in the garden beds after a cold, dreary winter. This year, my tulips are from Colorblends Wholesale Flowerbulbs in Bridgeport, Connecticut and The Flower Hat, a floral design studio and farm in Bozeman, Montana. The bulbs were planted in several raised beds in my vegetable garden. They will look marvelous come spring.

Enjoy these photos.

: If you’re planning to have beautiful tulips blooming in your garden next spring, get your bulbs planted now. We had some good weather this week to plant bulbs at my farm – temperatures were in the 50s. This tulip is ‘Sanne’ with large, tapered flowers that open in deep rose-pink and creamy-pink edges that mature to lilac-pink with pink-ivory edges. (Photo courtesy The Flowerhat)

: The bulbs came from Flowerhat. I received a great variety of different tulip bulbs, all in excellent condition.

: I also bought some from Colorblends Wholesale Flowerbulbs, another one of my favorite sources for spring-blooming bulbs.

: Among the varieties I am planting this year – ‘Finola’ with stunning pink-and-white blooms. (Photo courtesy Colorblends)

: ‘Moris Gudanov’ has big, blooms filled with peach and red petals that are sometimes streaked and sometimes solid. (Photo courtesy Colorblends)

: ‘Rosy Diamond’ has double blooms in shades of rose-pink splashed with tones of magenta. (Photo courtesy The Flowerhat)

: ‘Foxy Foxtrot’ is a double tulip with shades of apricot and yellow and hints of rose orange. (Photo courtesy The Flowerhat)

: ‘Pink Cameo’ produces full, double blooms in soft pink tones with warm apricot highlights. (Photo courtesy The Flowerhat)

: ‘Verona Sunrise’ shows off a blend of apricot, blush, and buttery yellow that deepens as the bloom matures. (Photo courtesy The Flowerhat)

: And this gorgeous double tulip is ‘Sugar Crystal.’ It has huge, feathery blooms with many layers of frilly petals in shades of silvery baby pink. (Photo courtesy The Flowerhat)

: Phurba starts by raking the bed and evening the soil. These beds are great for planting tulip bulbs – they will look so pretty when in bloom. And they will be done blooming before it is time to plant my vegetables.

: Ryan follows by making the rows using the bed preparation rake from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. This tool allows him to create shallow furrows in the soil. Hard plastic red tubes slide onto selected teeth of the rake to mark the rows.

: Then Matthew goes over the same furrows with the Row Pro™ from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. It’s great for making deeper trenches in the soil.

: One by one, Ryan places each bulb into the trench. Tulip bulbs are medium sized, so they should be buried at least six to eight-inches deep. As a rule of thumb, bulbs should be planted about three times the height of the actual bulb.

: Here is a view from above. These tulips should also have space between them to promote healthy growth and blooming. Here, they are about six inches apart.

: The bulbs look so healthy. Any kind of bulb should be firm and free of soft spots or visible rot. Check for signs of disease, cracking or other damage, which may cause the bulb to rot in the ground. The brown tunic, or outer skin protects each bulb’s bottom or basil plate. One can peel it off, or plant as is.

: To plant these tulip bulbs, Matthew and Phurba use these dibbers. A dibber or dibble or dibbler is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground so seeds, seedlings or bulbs can be planted. Dibbers come in a variety of designs including the straight dibber, T-handled dibber, trowel dibber, and an L-shaped dibber. These are T-handled dibbers. Dibbers are available at garden shops and online.

: Once all the bulbs are in their designated rows, Matthew pushes the dibber into the soil making a hole where the bulb will be planted.

: Matthew is careful to place each bulb with the pointed end faced up. This is important for all bulbs. If the pointed end is not obvious, look for the flat side of the bulb, which is the bottom.

: Matthew pushes it down several inches into the hole.

: Here is the bulb in the soil. Matthew plants all the bulbs before backfilling, so he can keep track of the planted holes and rows.

: Here are Phurba and Matthew – this year’s bulb planting team. They have more than 380 tulip bulbs to get into the ground. Bulbs are alive, but dormant, so they prefer to be in the soil. If they cannot be planted promptly, store them in a dark, dry location with good air circulation and temperatures averaging about 50 to 65-degrees Fahrenheit.

: Once the bulbs are in their designated trenches, it’s time to cover and rake the bed. Phurba carefully uses the back of a soft rake so he doesn’t disturb the bulb placements.

: Next, a generous amount of fertilizer is sprinkled over the backfilled bed. Avoid fertilizing directly on top of the bulbs, which will cause root burn. I use Miracle-Gro Organic All Purpose Plant Food.

: And lastly, Phurba rakes the bed lightly again to mix in the fertilizer. We’ll have a beautiful cutting garden of colorful tulips come April – I’ll be sure to share the photos. Are you planting your bulbs this weekend?