What to do with Tulip bulbs

[Dirrty]

I came across a sale on pots of tulip bulbs at walmart that had been sold as easter flowers already in bloom and died off. The people at the store then cut off all the greens and were selling the pots of bulbs at like 75cents each so i picked up a bunch of'em figurin i wouldnt be out much if they didnt work out.

My question is what would you all think is the best way to handle them, do I pop them in the ground now and see what happens next year or would it be better to pull them out and store them dry until fall and plant them then? If one way or the other has a much better chance of workin out i'll go with that, if they're both about the same I'll prolly just plant them now.

Thanks,
Matt

[Marlingardener]

Matt,
Tulip bulbs need a certain number of "cold hours", which means that in our climate (central Texas) we lift the bulbs out of the ground and store them in the refrigerator. In other climates, leaving the bulbs in the ground will provide the sufficient cold to let them go dormant and bloom next spring.
Since we have no idea where you are, I would suggest that you contact a Master Gardener group in your area, or go to a reputable nursery and ask if you need to put them in the refrigerator and plant them in the fall, or put them in the ground now.
Tulips are such a beautiful harbinger of spring--sure hope yours do well!

[Dirrty]

I see I forgot to add my location in my profile hehe. I won't have any problem here in PA with the winter being cold enough for them to come up next year. I guess my question more specifically is whether there would be any harm in them sitting in the ground so long if I plant them now as opposed to later in the fall.

[Dillbert]

plant and hope for the best.

sorry for the wet blanket, but most if not all the "event" bulbs are "forced" - making it much more predictable as to the bloom timing.

I've 'forced' hundreds of pounds of lilies, paper whites, tulips.
frankly, it's probably not worth the effort of planting them - I've never had any forced bulbs come back to thrive.

[Dirrty]

That's fine, I'm comfortable with a realistic picture of what to expect and it's some good information to use in the future. I'm just going to be throwing them into the back of my bed so I'll give it a shot and see what happens, it won't take much to get them into the ground. If nothin comes of it I'm only out about 8 bucks and I've probably got about 60 chances of some luck

[Marlingardener]

You certainly won't have any trouble with having enough cold hours for tulip bulbs in Pennsylvania!
Go ahead and plant--it's worth the small effort to see if you get tulips. If they do not bloom next year, give them another year to get back on schedule, and see what happens in the spring of 2013. I've rescued Easter lilies from church dumpsters, and had lovely lilies two years after.

[Kisal]

Most of the hyacinths in my yard were forced for Valentine's Day. I received them as potted gifts. They bloom nicely after I put them out in the yard, but not the first year, and sometimes, not the second year. Eventually, they do seem to revive, though.

I think it's worth planting your tulips, just to see if you eventually get flowers. Even if they don't perform for you right away, make sure you give them standard care, which includes scratching a little bone meal into the soil in the spring.