The Best Tips for Cutting Tulips
When is the best time to cut tulips and how to keep them longer in the vase? Here you will find answers.
A sea of tulips is one of the most beautiful sights in spring. The bulbs are planted in the autumn and can usually overwinter in the ground (read more about planting tulips here). Fortunately they are very frugal, but they love sunshine most of all! During flowering, every tulip lover should make sure that they always get enough water. But please avoid waterlogging, because these plants don’t like that either. When it is time to cut them off, we explain here.
Then you should cut tulips
Even if the flowering phase feels much too short, it is still useful to cut it. You should not trim your tulips in the bed too early or too late, as this could result in the flower losing valuable energy.
You cut the tulips in two steps:
- … when the flowers have wilted
- … when the remaining leaves slowly turn yellow
1. Cutting flowers
The edges of the flowers slowly wither, that is the signal for you to cut them. Because now the plant puts all its energy into seed formation, but most amateur gardeners want a new strong flower much more than just another propagation, don’t they? Now cut off the tulip flowers at the base and leave the rest.
2. Cutting greenery
Only in the second step the leaves follow. As long as they are still juicy green, they should be left standing. This is where the plant still has energy reserves, because the plant sap has to go back into the bulb so that the tulip can flower again next year.
When the leaves are yellowed and dead, you cut them off close to the ground. If the leaves are easy to pluck, it’s already too late. There is a risk of rotting here – so better keep an eye on the leaves beforehand!
Between the first and the second step, there should be days, maybe weeks, between the first and the second step, so the plant gets enough energy for the tulip bulbs.
Tulips in the vase: Tips for cut flowers
Tulips are actually available as cut flowers all year round. But they also look enchanting from their own green realm behind the house. This is how the tulips keep in the vase:
- For tulips from your own garden: prune early in the morning and make sure that they are completely dry.
- Cut the cut flowers for the vase straight with a knife.
- Only place them in a tall vase, they can use the hold!
- Do not fill the vase with too much water, otherwise the stems can quickly go mouldy.
- Change the water regularly, you can also cut them again at the same time.