Blind tulips

[Aquagility]

My (outdoor) tulips have masses of leaves and nary a bud.
Is it me or them?

[shaneystar2]

Probably slugs dear .they love tulips .And not the ones you normally see floating round the garden ..these are subterranean swines which spend their ill begotten lives mostly underground and then burrow through the leaves and eat the buds .

[Clanad]

I think shaneystar has a good idea, but i would ask if you cut them back last year before the leaves turned yellow? This will certainly affect the following years bloom. Additionally, have they been in the same bed for a number of years, say 4 or 5? If so, the bulbs may need separating and replanting. I do notice though, here in the western U.S. at least, only about half or a little better, of the tulips produce blooms each year. I suspect it has something to do with how harsh the winter was, but that's only a guess...

[Aquagility]

My thanks to you both.

Shaney, slugs are one pest I don't have - ground far too chalky for their liking. In any case these bulbs are in containers, fibre filled, on a balcony. They are well drained and have been watered regularly.

Clanrad, they are new bulbs (from a DT offer - prehaps that's the answer!). they were planted in late October (too late?), but we have had a very mild winter with almost no frost. Most of the bulbs have rooted well.

Back to Q&P - I'm better at that, and that's not saying much!

[gen2]

One of the TV gardening programs did a trial planting of these. The bulbs were graded by size and planted in rows. The large ones all flowered, but only a third of the smallest ones flowered. Maybe your special offer was 'special' because they were undersized and the nursery wanted to clear them out. If that was the case, then next year they should do better because they will be larger.