Gardening and Horticulture - Have I wrecked my tulips forever?

Last year in my haste to plant some other stuff I just cut the tulips off at about an inch above ground level. :wall:
This year when they came up I have leaves that look like something ate them and little stubby stalks with no blossom.:eek: Some have blossoms, but they too have that half eaten look. This is an obvious repercussion from hacking them off. Would it help if I take a picture of what I'm talking about and post it?
Will they recover or should I just plant all new bulbs this fall????

Hi Home Wrecker,

It's difficult to say if the tulips will come back next year and bloom as you don't say which ones they are. Many are treated as annuals. Here's some sites about tulips and other bulbs that perennialize.
http://www.slate.com/id/2138844/
http://www.bulb.com/templates/dispatcher.asp?page_id=snw_article_public&item=100&tg=public
http://www.theplantexpert.com/springbulbs/Perennial.html

Newt

Thanks Newt
I guess I just assumed tulips came up every year. I think these were the kind that do cause they came up 2 years previously and did just fine, when they came up this year it was pretty obvious something bad had happened to them. (Like me hacking them off) I'll check out the sites you suggested, guess I've got some learning to do about flower gardening.
Thanks
George

George, you are so very welcome! If they are the type that return year after year you may be pleasantly surprised one spring. I had tulips that only had some scant leaves year after year during the first 10 years I lived here. One year I decided to just dig them up and thought I'd gotten them all. To my surprise the following year one bulb that got left behind finally bloomed. I must have disturbed it just enough to bring it closer to the top of the soil. Now I keep hoping I'll see more of them over time.

Newt

I checked out those sites you gave me. I bookmarked them for future reference. I think I may pull them all out when they die off, sort them out, them replant them with some bone meal. We'll see what happens next year. I have about a dozen that came up ok. Won't be in such a hurry this year.

You might want to use compost to amend the planting bed. Do not add manure. You could also add super phosphate.
http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSA-2096.pdf

Newt