Found this article which seems to recommend storing in my garage and watering monthly. Any objections or additional advice?

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/tulips/care-of-tulip-bulbs-in-containers-in-the-winter.htm

I put my potted bulbs in the garage. But not until it gets really consistently cold - which lately seems to be in January! My pots are still outside. I keep them moist but not wet - usually just whatever the weather is doing, or if it's unusually dry I will water occasionally. They usually do fine when I bring them out in the spring.

One year I didn't get the pots all in the garage, and in February or so I tried to pick one up to bring in. Well, it was frozen to the ground, and the whole side of the plastic pot broke off in my hands! There were the bulbs, all exposed on that side. I couldn't move it, so I left it there and wrote it off. Would you believe they bloomed in spring without missing a beat? I couldn't believe it.

But I'm a bit confused - do you mean you are going to un-pot them and plant them in spring BEFORE they bloom? Or do mean you will let them bloom in pots and then replant?

Dee

The phrase 'in the garage" is so wide open, it's almost meaningless. My sister's garage is approximately the same temperature as her kitchen, while mine is very close to the outside temperature (including wind chill, since the sliding doors have a 1/2 inch gap beneath them). Mine does sometimes get hot on a still day, though, so it isn't much better than hers for storing something that's dormant.

Since the bulbs are hardy, you could just put the pots outside the garage, on the north side, and cover them with something like a tarp or even a piece of plywood. You DO want them to go dormant, and to NOT sprout prematurely in late winter.

If your garage gets hot sometimes, be sure the pots are in an outside corner, and in shade. I'd water them before I put them in there, let them drain very thoroughly, then wouldn't give them any water until maybe Feb. While they're dormant, they're in more danger of rotting than of becoming dessicated.

That's my 2 cents - DtD

True, DTD, true. I forget that not everyone has a walk-in meat locker for a garage like I do, lol. I should have mentioned that my garage gets cold and stays cold, much longer than the outside weather does in spring!

Dee

My garage is detached from the house. It is set into the ground in the back, but on grade in the front. The doors are half glass and get morning sun which warms up the inside a bit. The top floor is heated at times by a wood stove, but the top floor is fully insulated so it shouldn't heat up the ground floor much.

I plan to plant them when they begin showing signs of life in the spring. If I set them outside and cover them, I am sure that critters will get at them. One of the reasons I ran out of time this year is because planing bulbs here is a big task involving two types of chicken wire. I have the wire cut and I will cage them when I plant them in the early spring

Right now I have the pots on top of my potting bench a couple of feet from the one garage door. There is no space along the perimeter of the garage on the floor and I am afraid that I will forget about them if they are out of sight. Now I am afraid that the sun will thaw the black pots too much. I am thinking a light colored drop cloth spread over the pots and a check now and then for dryness might be a good strategy.

Thanks for your input!

Wow, that is your GARAGE? It's nicer than my house, lol!

Good luck with your bulbs. I never thought of - and I've never heard of anyone - planting them out after they start growing, but that doesn't mean no one has or that it won't work. Please let me know how they do for you after planting out.

:)
Dee

Thanks Dee. We just built it last year. As an architect, I had to make it good! LOL!!!

I'll let you know how they go.

I agree with Dee - now I've got garage envy. My house is well-built, and the garage was apparently an afterthought. I keep wishing I could knock it down and build something nicer - pretty much just like yours.

Okay, so I came back from a 10-day trip to Texas to find my 20 pots of tulips emerging in the garage.

Now I am afraid to plant them! They have popped up too tall for chicken wire on the top and the soil is too loose to take them out of the pots without disturbing the roots.

Should I just plant the pot for now until they are done blooming? Should I take them out of the plastic pots, let the bulbs fall apart and still replant them into the soil with the wire around the bottom and sides and then add the chicken wire top when they are done blooming?

Help guys! I am so afraid that I will put them out and they will be eaten overnight after all the work of potting and storing them.

What would you do?