I don't know about you, but I can never find enough space for all the tulips I want to grow. There are so many colors and styles and bloom times. So many creative combinations waiting to happen.

Planting tulip bulbs goes fast. My challenge is finding places to put them all. At my house, tulips get tucked into every available space in perennial beds and shrub borders. I also plant them near the front door, along the front walk and in pots to be stored over the winter. When it's tulip season, the overall effect is gorgeous, with splashes of color everywhere you turn.

Yet I still yearn for more! Tulips look so amazing when they're planted by the hundreds and what I really crave is those big blocks of color that you see in public gardens.

Last fall it suddenly occurred to me... why am I not planting tulip bulbs in the vegetable garden? It's the best soil on the property. Rich, loose and well drained. Heaven for tulips. So here's what I did.

In the first garden bed I planted 100 Darwin Hybrids. I removed 6" of soil and piled it on a tarp in the path. Then I filled the planting area with a blend of crushed oyster shells, red pepper flakes and granulated garlic. This has proven to be a pretty effective rodent deterrent in my flower beds, so why not do it here as well.

I placed the tulips about 5" apart on center, and then gently covered them with the soil from the tarp. With the granular deterrent around the bulbs and a 30" rabbit fence around the vegetable garden, I felt pretty confident there would be a good show of color in May. And there was.

I also planted about 100 triumph tulip bulbs in another raised bed, just outside the rabbit fence. These bulbs didn't get the oyster shell/garlic/red pepper treatment. Instead, I laid hardware cloth on top of the soil (after planting). I weighed it down with a couple big stones, and left it there until I could see green shoots emerging in spring. If you have problems with squirrels and chipmunks digging up your bulbs, this technique would probably work well for any raised bed.

The results from these two plantings were equally successful. Plenty of tulips for cutting, without diminishing the show in my flower beds. It was exactly what I'd been hoping for.

As you can see in the photo below, there's plenty of room to expand on this idea...

On the right you can see that the cold hardy salad greens are already up and when the tulips are in bloom. But it's still too early to be planting heat loving crops like tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers and squash.

After the tulips started losing their flower petals, I used a garden fork to dig out the plants -- bulbs and all. I needed the space for vegetables, and had enjoyed 200 big, beautiful flowers for less money than I would have spent on those disappointing tulip bunches you buy at the grocery store.

To save money, you can purchase bulbs for your cutting garden at the end of the season when they are discounted. Or buy them in bulk. Color choices will be more limited, but in this case you're going for volume, not specific varieties. If you garden in raised beds, a 3x6 or 4x6 bed will easily accommodate 100 tulips.

My vegetable garden gave me enough tulips to make some very extravagant flower arrangements for myself, with plenty more to share with people who stopped by. Plus, I had the fun of watching the bulbs emerge from the soil and come into bloom. 

So when you pull out your vegetables this fall, put in some tulips! To learn more about planting and other tulip-related tips, you may be interested in reading the following articles on our website: All About Tulips, Planning Guide for Tulips, and 7 Tips for Planting Tulips.