Do people really dig up tulip bulbs every year?

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I was looking to see what I'm supposed to do wuth tulips that have gone over, and apparently people lift the bulbs, wrap them and store them to replant in the autumn? Is this really a thing?

I don't. I know you're meant to, but... nah.

No. Daffodils seem to do all right in the wild, and we plant new tulips every year any way.

But talk to me about the shrivelled box of indoor hyacinth bulbs that I 'saved' from all the supermarket pots, the ones I keep meaning to plant in the garden for next year...

Heavy clay here,so all the spring bulbs are in pots, after flowering,put right at the bottom of the garden out of sight,fed, and waiting till next year.

Same as KingscoteStaff - I use the same pots for summer plants so lift and store. It takes about half an hour so not particularly onerous. Not sure I'd bother if they were in the ground.

The narcissus failed this year though so will need replacing.

Gosh I planted dozens and they have brought so much colour this time of year but no way am I digging them up!

Anything I plant has to stand up for itself. CBA with anything that needs putting indoors over winter.

Every year it occurs to me there's a gap in the market for lovely weatherproof cache pots with inserts designed to fit, or just the right size to fit standard large plastic flowerpots to facilitate easy seasonal swapping. None of my nice pots seem to be the right size and shape to take an inner pot without wasting a lot of space.

Tulips are an annual here as they get Tulip Fire disease on the second year. They do okay in the first year if they’re planted late enough. Shame as tulips are my favourite!

I've got tulips in my front garden that have been flowering for 20 years. Some years they do better than others but they're flowering now 😊

Same here, only it's been thirty years. Perhaps our tulips are like everything else made years ago. Very robust. My old ones in the garden keep coming back, but the newer ones in pots or garden genernally don't last longer than three years. I guess they don't make them how they used to!

A local gardener here in Germany told me prices have dropped so much it's not worth it for them growing their own anymore - not even if they buy the bulbs from NL, so it's all mature flowers getting shipped these days even for cut flowers. Probably a similar dynamic at work with what you're describing.

I grow tulips in pots, and I use the pots for other plants in the summer. So when they’ve finished, I dig them out and plant them in the beds. I find that maybe 50% will come back the next year.

I grow daffodils in the beds, so they stay there year on year. They are more reliable in coming back than tulips, I find, so I just let them stay there.

Those who leave them in the ground, can I just ask, do you remember where they are so you avoid planting over the top of them? Do you leave gaps for them or do you let them pop up in between other plants?

You can buy tulips marketed as "reliably perennial", which do come back ok. Others, I add an inch of grit under the bulb and plant them deep. They genetally peter out after 3 years or so, depending on type /luck/weather.

Apparently some varieties come back fine (my red ones do) and others don’t. Planted some really dark purple ones last year and only one has returned. I’m in the CBA camp .

So, question for the panel: if I'm leaving in place, what do I do to daffs once the flowers are dying- do I cut the whole thing off to ground level or just leave it to sort of wither??

Deadhead them, but leave the leaves for about 6 weeks - they need to photosynthesise and stuff to give energy to the bulb so it can flower next year.

And you may want to feed them while they're in leaf too.

I try to put them close to a herbaceous perennial that will still be small when the tulips and daffs are out.

Half my mum’s very large garden is bulbs and corms of different varieties and every year she digs them all up, driest wraps and stores. Then out she goes during planting time to put them all back in.

I don't lift my tulips unless I want to get rid of them completely from that area. I plant them very deeply so I can over plant with no problems.

Whether they come back the following year depends on the variety, and to a lesser extent on whether I remembered to deadhead and feed them.

I never expect bulbs in pots to perform in the same pots for a second year. If I need the pots, the contents go into the garden to build themselves up. If I don't need the pots I try to feed and water them assiduously till they go over completely and then I take the bulbs out and dry them off before replanting. This is much easier to do with a few pots that can be relocated somewhere convenient. I try to get them back in the ground somewhere asap as I'm tired of finding mysterious bags of unidentified bulbs lurking in strange places when the next planting season comes round.

Much of my garden is deeply planted (up to twice the recommended depth) bulbs and dahlias, which stay in place all year round, topped up with shallow rooted annuals and perennials on top to ring the changes and cover the in between season. You couldn't do this everywhere in th UK though.

I take photos so that I know where they are, and try to fill the gaps the following year. Some pop up in the middle of other stuff & of course lots don't come back.
What I forget to do is mark which daffs don't produce flowers - I need to do this so I can dig them up.

I had some amazing tulips last year - about 30 per large pot, about 4 pots total. This year less than 20% of them regrew. Apparently daffodils are better at reappearing, with tulips it depends a lot on the variety and the conditions. I’ll be buying loads of new bulbs this autumn.

the rest might have been dug up and eaten by squirrels if you have them. I have to net the pots over winter to keep them out and even then they sit on top of the wire, staring through mournfully 😂

No, eat cake instead.