The constant gardener

Tulip fever

nce tulip flowers are past their best, remove them to stop them setting seed, which saps the energy best directed towards growing the bulb and its babies. That said, bulb leaves should not be removed for at least eight weeks after flowering as bulb regeneration is through photosynthesis via the leaves. If your tulips, annoyingly, only flower for one year consider growing the species tulips, which naturalise more easily, or Darwin and Fosteriana ones. Also try planting bulbs deeper – four times the size of the bulb – and later in the season, and