We've been digging up our tulip and daffodil bulbs each year and keep them in refrigerator, but they never flower the next year. Someone told me that digging them up is pointless and they would not flower, that I should just buy new ones each year. Is that true? Why? Where can I find more information about this?
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What location are you? Tulips and daffodils need 12 to 16 weeks at 40 Def F or 4 Deg C to flower again. Do you get those temperatures?– kevinskio ♦Commented Sep 23, 2022 at 1:45
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@kevinskio New Zealand. It's well above 4 Deg C most of the year.– Andrew SavinykhCommented Sep 23, 2022 at 2:29
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I tried refrigerating tulips for zone 8 ( Houston) in US a few years no success . Daffodils will rebloom left in the ground , but not as well as in cooler zones.– blacksmith37Commented Sep 26, 2022 at 21:01
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2 Answers
Minimum winter temperatures above freezing put you at Zone 10 in the US hardiness zone map. This is far too warm for tulips to flower while in the ground, and forcing them in the refrigerator, as you're doing, will not work because tulips resent being handled like that. If you're going to try to force them, you should grow them in pots and put the entire pot into the refrigerator after the leaves have died in the summer.
Daffodils can live in warmer areas than tulips, but US Zone 10 is just a shade too hot. If you're adventurous, you can try some of the varieties recommended in this article on growing daffodils in the US South. Otherwise, you can try growing them in pots and forcing them as recommended above.
As was noted in the other answer, you could consider planting bulbs that will over-winter in the ground. Amaryllis, Clivia, Agapanthus, Aztec Lilies, Freesia, Tuberose and many other bulbs will be hardy in your area, depending on rainfall and drainage.
In a broad sense, all bulbs are pretty much about the plant surviving the winter (or other hostile season) to flower the next year, or rainy season, etc.
Daffodils certainly survive the winter (-26°C local to me, sometimes a bit colder) in the ground, and most types will increase (or naturalize) if left in place for many years. Digging them up for the winter is harmful and a waste of effort, in my experience. They would prefer to be in the ground working on their root development. If they get very crowded, once in a while (several years) it can be useful to dig them up when the foliage has died off (or in fall if you keep track of where to dig) and immediately replant them more separated.
Tulips survive the first winter in the ground, (normally planted in fall here) but are more prone to weakening and fading away in my experience. Still, I am amused by the "volunteer" tulips sprouting from the pile where institutional gardeners dump the ones they ripped out of of the formal beds as soon as they were done flowering the year before. Not quite as "once and useless" as those folks and tulip sellers would have you believe. And it generally takes several years for a planting to fizzle out altogether if left in place.
But I don't grow tulips myself, as I find the tendency to die out and require replenishment/replacement annoying.
If your area is too warm for overwintering bulbs, I have no experience with that end of flowering bulb growing challenges. but there are surely plenty of bulbs and other flowers more suited to that climate. I'd expect them to survive in the ground, even if they choose not to flower if there's a chill requirement not being met.
