^That idea is interesting, because once I forced tulips in the kitchen in several pots and the flowers were dwarfed; they were supposed to be about 16 inches tall and were coming out about 6 inches tall, not only short but also with miniature penny-sized flowers. I put one of the pots outside during a chilly March week and within days in the cold, the flowers, stems and leaves enlarged to a typical tulip size. The ones that stayed in the house remained miniature.

I guess it depends on what your time is worth. I did it for a few years and decided it was not worth it, considering the low cost of tulip bulbs. If you do try it you will find that many tulips create 'splits' with neither bulb large enough to bloom. Most tulips less than 12cm circumference will not bloom. When you sort out the splits and the undersized, the second year only about 30% will bloom again. With tulips going for about $25 a hundred or 25 cents apiece for 14cm sure to bloom bulbs, it was not worth it for me. Al

Well, it's five years late, but msflora asked a very good question. The short answer is perhaps you could, but why on earth would you? Here's why. Bulbs have a yearly life cycle. They come up and bloom and THEN they have to be in the ground and SUN for at least 8 weeks. During this time, the leaves are feeding the bulb and forming next year's bloom inside the bulb. After that has occurred, the leaves turn brown and fall off (this is called ripening) and the bulb goes dormant underground. I suppose it's theoretically possible that IF you caught them at just the right time (which is usually in the spring planting rush) and IF you stored them properly all summer, then chilled them all fall, and THEN planted them again in late winter, you might could get another year's bloom out of them. But my goodness! Here in the deep south, they (meaning daffodils, etc. not typically tulips) come up again in the fall. The leaves elongate and grow in the winter sun until it's time to bloom and begin the ripening process over again. Up north, the bulbs are getting that all important chill time during the winter. I honestly don't know if the bulbs come up in the fall for them like they do down here. But either way, they have to have the winter chill in order to bloom. That's why we do it in the refrigerator down here. The bulbs you buy bagged in the store in the fall have NOT been chilled. Take them home and put them into your refrigerator for 6-10 weeks as stated in the advice above.

I have always chilled after purchase (September) until December, my best results ever were planting in pots in early December and moving the pots to deep shade and covering with leaves until leaves show. I have not tried chilling tulips after first year bloom. Bulbs left in the ground sometimes flower, but much smaller. Bulbs will split into 2 or more smaller bulbs after flowering. But by third year they have dwindled down to nothing. Do people find that chilling helps the bulbs grow larger in the second/third year ?