When to plant / Tulips

When to plant tulips

Plant tulips in fall, once the soil has cooled and before the first frost. Penn State Extension sets the first frost as the line to beat, and that date runs from Sep 30 (Concord, NH) to Dec 8 (Houston, TX) across the 39 U.S. cities on this site. The sources treat that deadline as soft: Minnesota says tulips can go in as late as you can get them into the soil.

The planting rule for tulips, in plain words

Penn State Extension: Spring-blooming bulbs are planted in the fall, before the first frost, for an early to late spring or early summer bloom. The start of the window is set by soil temperature, not frost. University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension says to plant when ground temperatures drop to around 50-55°F or lower (but not freezing). No frost normal reports soil temperature, so this page computes only the plant-by date and leaves the start to a soil thermometer.

The deadline is soft. Illinois Extension: The ideal planting time is about four weeks before the ground freezes. Minnesota: Tulips are one exception; you can plant these as late as you can get them into the soil. Iowa State: Bulbs can be planted as late as late November to early December, if the ground is not frozen or covered with snow. Depth, from Iowa State: tulips and daffodils should be planted 6-8 inches deep.

Soil temperature for tulips

For bulbs the soil needs to cool, not warm. Wisconsin: plant when ground temperatures drop to around 50-55°F or lower (but not freezing). A soil thermometer at planting depth is the only way to know; the first-frost date in the table is the deadline the sources name, not the start.

Tulips: planting dates for 39 U.S. cities

The rule above applied to each station's own NOAA normals, earliest first. City links open that station's full calendar.

3 frost-free stations are left out. Not in the table? The planner takes any pair of frost dates.

Three cities, one rule

• Concord, New Hampshire — first fall frost Sep 30, so bulbs go in by then; the first 28°F freeze averages Oct 8.
• Charlotte, North Carolina — first fall frost Nov 3, so bulbs go in by then; the first 28°F freeze averages Nov 14.
• Houston, Texas — first fall frost Dec 8, so bulbs go in by then; the first 28°F freeze averages Dec 26.

Related planting dates

• When to plant garlic — 1 to 2 weeks after the first fall frost
• When to plant strawberries — potted after the last frost, bare-root earlier
• When to plant sunflowers — after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed
• All crops · calendars by city · cool-season vs warm-season crops

Sources for this page

Every date in the table is arithmetic on the station's NOAA normal and the offset stated by the source; the quoted sentences are the only figures on this page that are not computed. Normals are 30-year averages and describe the station, not your yard. Rules checked 2026-10-23; see the methodology page.