How do I care for potted tulips?

[ny biker]

My cousin gave me tulips for Easter. Nice yellow ones in a pot.

I am clueless about plants. It is possible to care for them and keep them alive as a potted plant?

I live in a condo with no garden. I do have a south-facing balcony that gets lots of sun. Also have north-facing windows with no direct sun, if needed.

Thanks!!

[goldfinch]

Tulips bloom, their leaves take in sun for a brief period and then turn yellow and die. The bulb lives on if it got enough nutrition and after going through a long dormant period, including time in the cold, it can bloom again.

It is hard to get potted tulips to rebloom, even if you plant them in a garden immediately after they are done blooming. I hate to say but I'd ditch them when they are done blooming.

[marni]

tulips need a period of near freezing temps to rebloom. You can let them grow and leaf until the leaves yellow off. Trim everything off, take the tulips out of the pot, let them dry out in a cool shady place for 2-3 weeks then store them in something breathable, (I use an old pair of cotton socks, for 4-6 months, then stick them in the freezer for 6 weeks, thaw overnight and then replant if fresh potting soil. It doesn't aways work, but I have had reasonable success.

[bmccasland]

I bought myself some from a grower two weeks ago. Here are the instructions that came with them:
- Plants may be kept in the pot or can be planted in window boxes or the garden, pot and all. Water well. (must add that mine came in a biodegradeable heavy paper pot)

- If keeping bulbs in the pot they prefer outside, but will bloom in-doors, try to place them in the coolest part of your house not in direct sunlight.

- after they have finished blooming allow them to die back, (the foliage is the bulbs food source for the next year.) At this point they can be left in the pot throughout the summer, in September, either plant bulbs in new soil and put back in the pot, in fresh soil, or plant directly in the ground.

I figured I'd trim the pot rim down to soil level, and plant the whole thing in the ground after the flowers were done. Dehead the blooms, so the energy would be to plant production. Figured if they came back next year, I win, if they don't, no big deal.