🌷 Tulip
Tulipa gesneriana
A Dutch diva that demands a refrigerator vacation in Florida.
Sun
Full sun, 6+ hrs
Days to harvest
Pre-chill bulbs 8–10 weeks; blooms ~3–4 weeks after planting
Spacing
4–6 inches apart, 6 inches deep
Soil pH
6.0–7.0
How to grow
Florida tulips are a one-season fling: chill bulbs in the fridge (away from fruit — ethylene gas ruins them) for 8–10 weeks, then plant in December or January. They'll bloom gloriously once and won't return — compost them after and try a new color next year.
Water & feeding
Water at planting; winter rains usually suffice after that. Never let bulbs sit in standing water.
Common problems
- Squirrels dig and eat bulbs — cover with hardware cloth
- Basal rot in wet soil
- No rebloom without real winter chill — treat as an annual
Harvest
Cut for vases as color shows; deadhead after bloom but the show's over — pull and compost.
Nerdy fact: In the 1630s, a single tulip bulb in Holland sold for the price of a canal house — tulip mania was the world's first recorded speculative bubble, all over a flower.