Six months with Tulip — what I actually learned

I brought Tulip home six months ago with high hopes and almost no knowledge. The first challenge was understanding leaving foliage to die back naturally after flowering — something I hadn't expected to matter so much. Once I got that right, the whole thing settled down.

I grow it in a mixed border with later-emerging perennials to hide dying foliage and the position has been ideal. increasing clump size year on year when well established is what keeps drawing me back to it. planting new bulbs in autumn for next year's display was the moment that made me glad I persisted through the learning curve. One honest warning: squirrel and mouse predation on newly planted bulbs caught me off guard in month two. Stay on top of it from the start.