Jessica Catrow

                                               Tulips

  When I am planting my flowers all I can think about is how beautiful they will be in six months. Kneeling down I can see the beginnings of a new life. My heart wants to help it grow, my soul is peaceful. I live for nurturing new life, it’s what keeps my heart beating.  For anything worth having you must be patient for it to bloom--flowers are an embodiment of patience. As the great American botanist Luther Burbank once put it, “Flowers always make people feel better, happier, and more helpful. They are sunshine food and medicine for the soul.”
Tulips are spring flowers, they are a sign that summer is close by. You want to plant your bulbs in the fall. Tulips are perennials so they will come back year after year. Tulips are native to Eastern Turkey, and they do best in growing in conditions similar to Eastern Turkey. Cold winter and dry hot summer, which make Utah an ideal location.
Choose a spot in your garden that is partly shaded, but that also gets a fare amount of sun. You should remove all the rocks and leaves that are on or around the area you want to plant your bulbs. If your dirt is really dry, wait until it rains, or water then plant your bulbs the next day. Make sure the soil is dry when planting so you don’t get fungus. The depth of the hole should be twice as deep as the bulb. I suggest using a trowel to dig your soil. The soil that is underneath is more important then the soil on top. So I like to mix a cup of miracle grow in my hole.
       When purchasing your bulbs choose plump and firm tulip bulbs you do not want shriveled or soft bulbs. Shriveled or soft bulbs, might mean the bulb is dead. Make sure the soil is loose so the bulb has room to grow. Sometimes you can plant your bulbs shallower in heavier clay soils or deeper in sandier soils.  Place your bulb with the tip pointing upwards. If you are planting multiple bulbs make sure you plant them two to three times there width apart. Using your hands, gently draw the soil across the bulb, make sure you don’t move them. Press firmly over the soil with your hands and fingers. You want to press firmly because you don’t want any air pockets your roots will dry out and your plant won’t grow.
        Almost right after you plant, your bulbs they begin to root. The roots take in the cold temperatures that stimulate them to sprout in early spring. Certain varieties of  tulips will have a better chance at coming back every year, because they are very close to native strains and have high disease resistance. This just depends on where you are at and your weather conditions. As the temperatures get warmer, the tulips start to grow rapidly and eventually they bloom. The bulb that you have planted is totally used up and actually starts to disintegrate. New bulblets form and start to grow - this period between blooming and the plant dying is referred to as the “grand period” of growth. This is when the energy flow reverses and starts to go downward to build new bulbs instead of upward to form flowers.
        Using a fertilizer will help any type of soil. So you should fertilize bulbs.  You can add mulch when you are planting but keep in mind that they may take longer to emerge. Fertilizing in the fall with special bulb fertilizer is the best time. You want to use a higher phosphorus number this is important for the root growth. The numbers are on the bag by law so they may read 10-48-0 nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium. Phosphorous aids in root development and increases flowering ability and bloom size. Only water the area if the ground is dry. Though too much water is not good, sufficient water at the time of planting is necessary to get them growing and to ensure the start of a strong root system.
      After the tulips have passed their peak, top the old blooms and let the plants die down naturally. This will help the new flowers to grow bigger and stronger. As long as you have followed these steps your tulips should come back just as vibrant every year. In some areas they have a hard time and might die a little more every year. In this case you would want to dig them up and replant the whole bulb in another well drained area. Like life, things sometimes fail before they can bloom again. If you apply yourself and be patient, than you are giving your tulip a soul to blossom in nature. Nurturing that soul into a vibrant colored blossoming tulip.

http://www.wikihow.com/Plant-Tulip-Bulbs
http://www.quotesdonkey.com/298-patience-quotes/24789-patience-is-a-flower-that/