drying off tulips?

[beach chick]

hi - got lots of tulips in pots which are now over (in fact, SO last year darling...!).
I want to plant them out in a bed I'm reworking, but do I need to leave them to dry off (and if so where/how?) or can I just plant them straight in the ground now, which would be much easier.
thanks in advance!

[nick the grief]

tricky that one,

You could try digging a hole about potsized and transfering the whole caboodle into the hole. or take them out and let them dry off and replant later. I would have thought you don't want to leave them anywhere too sunny otherwise they'll shrivel up so try leaving them for a few days in the sun ( if it returns) and turn them to get them ripe and then store them somewhere cool and airy

[rustylady]

If the leaves are still green and healthy then you can transplant now. Either plant the whole pot (complete with compost) in an equal-size hole in the garden or split carefully into individual plants. Whichever you will need to make sure they're well watered in. The foliage will then die back naturally (don't expect any fresh growth this year) and hopefully the bulbs will settle in and grow again next spring. If the foliage has already started to die back then you will be better to let the whole pot dry out, lift the bulbs and store them somewhere dry and cool till autumn when you can re-plant.

[beach chick]

thanks for that, the leaves are still green but I will have to go for the splitting into separate plants routine I think... would rather get them in the ground now than have to disturb other stuff I'm putting in!