Here is a fun gardening project to do with your child – planting tulips with the kids ready for early spring blooming!

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You might think your gardening season is over, but if you want to have lots of colourful blooms next Spring, I’m happy to say, it’s not too late yet!

November, December and January are great months for planning ahead and tidying up for next year’s growing season.

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Planting Tulips is a Great Garden Project

Unlike other spring bulbs, such as daffodils and crocuses, which should be planted in September and October, tulips can be planted in November and December. In fact, late planting prevents a disease called tulip fire.

You can get a wonderful selection of tulips with fantastic colours. Why not let the kids pick their favourite colours?

You can plant tulips in the ground or in containers. Unlike daffodils, tulips generally only last one season, unless they are planted in a very hot, dry position.

Our Planting Tulips Project

We planted up small 15cm pots, just enough room for 2 or 3 bulbs. We planted a small tulip called ‘Red Riding Hood’, which will grow to a height of 30cm.

If you are doing containers at home, you might like to try something a bit bigger. For example, blue glazed containers look great with white or red tulips.

You could also use three matching pots in different sizes, choose your flower colours so that they won’t clash.

You will need:

• Pots
• Compost
• Tulip bulbs
• Winter flowering bedding
• Water
• Label

How to do it:

1. Fill pot 1/3 with compost (or more depending on size of pot and bulb).
2. Tulips should be planted 3 times their depth and twice their width apart.
3. Plant bulbs with pointed end up, roots down.
4. Add compost on top.
5. Then plant your winter bedding; we used winter pansies.
6. Label your pot.
7. Water and leave outside.

You will have lovely tulips for April or May.

Tulips could also be added to winter containers. Shrubs such as ivy, euonymus, and skimmia give lovely winter colour. Grass such as carex is evergreen and looks great through the winter. Other winter bedding includes violas, primulas and cyclamen.

If you want your bulbs to bloom again the following year, you have to lift them once the leaves have turned yellow and dry out the bulbs, store them and replant again in November. For more detailed instructions, have a look at the RHS advice page on tulips.

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Have your say! Have you tried planting tulips for some garden colour in early spring? Leave a comment below and let us know – we’d love to hear from you!