Gardening and Horticulture - Help with Bulbs

We have been trying to get control of our gardens. We bought our first house and the previous owner had spent a lot of time making these big gardens that in the end with both of us working full time and one of us going to school are just too much for us to handle....

I have been thinning out various areas, laying mulch and generally trying to get a handle on what we have where. While digging up an area I thought was bare this weekend I came upon a few clumps of what after an interent search I am fairly certain are Tulip bulbs.

I have them sitting in a pot in the shade outside right now. I am wondering what I should do with them, should I replant them right now? Should I store them until fall? How and where should I store them if this is the case....

Any suggestions are appreciated.

At this point you can do either - If you know where you want them to come up, put them in the ground. If you are not sure, you can store them in a brown bag in your garage (make sure that they are very dry) and wait until fall and plant them. The main thing with tulips is good drainage, and not too many squirrels or voles who may eat the bulbs. Bulbs need to have a "hardening off" period in cold temperatures prior to blooming.
What planting zone are you in?

ohio? I dont really know...

You seem to be in zone 5a to 6B, according to the US hardiness zone maps -
The best thing to do, in my opinion, if you know where you want them to bloom, is to plant them in the ground now.( after the greenery has died - see below) This way, they will over-winter in the ground, and provide flowers in the spring. Bulbs need a cold weather period before blooming.
Let them dry out in the pots - until the green stems have died. Cut the stems off then , about 2 inches from the bulb, and plant them in the area where you want them to bloom. The reason for this is that the bulb feeds off the stems to promote the next year's growth. Put some fertlilizer in the soil when you plant the bulbs, and add water after planting.

Hope this helps -
Blessings -
Debbie

Are bulbs such as tulips and hyacinth, etc. competitive with roses? Or will they complement one another?

Thanks,

Sachin

I have Calla Lilies next to the short style (2' tall) of rose bush and I don't think you can go wrong there. I have come to prefer that the taller style of rose bush should probably be in groups by themselves however.

I also wanted to ask a related question -

I recently planted some mature Calla Lilies. I noticed that as the flower matures, it droops. At first I thought the plant was stressed but this seems to be normal since the plants are increasing in size and appear healthy. The flower (which is really a modified leaf) also has a fairly large seed pod inside. Should I pinch these off? Does the Calla Lily generate quite a few flower heads throughout the growing season?

Removing the developing seed pod will ordinarily encourage the plant to bloom again. With plants that bloom and drop the bloom prior to the development of the seed pod, removing the pod will prevent the plant from diverting energy to the production of seeds.

Hope this helps.

You can plant spring flowering bulbs- tulips, hyacinths, etc. , but you'll probably want to make sure that they are not growing underneath the roses - probably about a foot or more away from them, so that they will show up. I have a bed that has roses in it, but I have different spring bulbs in a central area about 2 feet from any bush. These give a nice color to the garden until the roses bush out and start to bloom. If the roses start to get too close to the bulbs, you can always move them.