Bulbs in Tubs........what now?

[Mimi]

I had some beautiful tulips and jonquille in big pots for the spring and  they have been gorgeous but are now going over.  The flowers have died off and Im just left with the folliage.  My question is what now?  Do I have to leave them in the pots until the folliage withers or can I lift them and store them somewhere dry?   Will they be ok to use in pots again next year or will they have to go into the ground?    Hmmmm need to start thinking about summer stuff for the pots now,  another planting opportunity  ;)

[Mimi]

[Poolcue]

Leave them in the pots, give them a good feed and wait for foliage to die down

[small]

I've taken mine out of the pots and put them in a spare bit of my plot so they can still die down naturally and take what they need from the leaves. I shall lift them once the foliage has died down and store the bulbs in the cool and dry till Autumn. Well that's the plan, anyway.....

[Blue Butterfly]

 i WAS TOLD TO CUT OFF THE HEADS & IF POSSIBLE LEAVE THEM IN SITU, TURN THE POTS ON THERE SIDES UNTILL OCTOBER & THEN FEED IN jANUARY.. HOPE THIS HELPS.

OH JUST NOTICED CAPS SO SORRY.

[Mimi]

Thanks for the advice.  I think I will go with the feed and leave to die down school of thought.  I would leave them in the tubs but will soon be needing them for summer stuff.

[rugbypost]

I,ve seen this done by my neighbour when the flowers have died back, he folds the leaves over puts a elastic band around them Lifts the bulb and lays them on a old hesian sack to die back it works for him ;D

[lavenderlux]

My experience of spring flowering bulbs like daffodills  in pots is that 'large flowering' daffs are best planted into an area of the garden for future flowering (removing the spent flowers so they don't use energy to produce seeds), as leaving them in pots for future years often gives disappointing results, and then replacing with new bulbs in the Autumn.  In my experience, the smaller flowering ones, like the varietiy Tete-a-tete will be ok for successive years - mine are planted very deeply in a large container and I plant Ivy leaved Geraniums on top of them.  If you think of the cost of purchasing new bulbs and the almost guaranteed good results from new bulbs I think the cost is worth it, especially with the very early flowering ones.  This year I had some of the daffs variety 'Spring Dawn and they flowered from mid January for seven weeks and were beautiful.  I'm soon going to plant these into a wild area of my garden and will purchase new bulbs for next year.