Cheap Tulip Bulbs

Why are you looking for cheap tulip bulbs? Is it because you live in California or are you trying to discourage those annoying critters that eat all your best plants? Maybe youv'e been reading the Wall Street Journal recently or is it just that you're a cheapskate?

Because of the mild winters in large areas of California many popular bulbs do not produce good results there. The hybrid commercial tulips in particular require special treatment to ensure good blooms. The bulbs should be purchased as soon as they are available in early September, then stored in the refrigerator until the weather cools off in late October or early November. Without this chilling, the plants will emerge stunted, and the flower stem will not grow fully. Equally tulips perform poorly the following year so many people treat them as annuals and buy cheap tulip bulbs each year.

If you suffer from deer and rabbits eating your prized plants then try this suggestion that was posted on a messageboard: "I'm planting cheap tulip bulbs out by the road, so the deer & bunnies can have those, hoping they will leave my precious Triumph Astarte tulips".

When asked "What's the difference between a 70 cent flower bulb and a $2 bulb?" the Wall Street Journal replied "About $1.30". The paper carried out a test over a period of one year comparing expensive bulbs with cheaper ones to see if the pricier bulbs performed better. It found $2 bulbs did not produce better flowers than $1 bulbs. In fact, some of the best flowers came from some of the cheapest bulbs. Admittedly the bulbs used for this test were daffodils and so the same may not apply to cheap tulip bulbs.

Have you ever wondered how to plant 100 tulip bulbs in 30 minutes? Click the link to find out.