Bunch Of Tulips Delivered On Bulb – Remove Bulb Now Or After Flower/leaves Have Died

Question

Hi there, I’m hoping you can help me. Today I received a bunch of tulips on the bulb (not planted) from my mother-in-law, as a thoughtful kindness after my recent surgery for thyroid cancer. I’m hoping to be able to store the bulbs and plant them next autumn. I suspect this is an obvious question, but I’m wondering if you can tell me whether it is better for the bulb/future plant for me to leave bulb attached to the flower and leaves for now until they die off and then store it, or should I remove the bulb now and dry it out for storage? Regards and thank you.

Answer 1

Since they are out of the ground, the roots lose the benefit of leaving the foliage on. I would go ahead and store them if there is no way to get them planted now.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/tulips/how-to-cure-tulip-bulbs.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/bgen/preparing-bulbs-for-winter-how-to-store-bulbs-for-winter.htm