Through spring

Once leaves emerge in March, water if the compost is dry, and feed every fortnight with liquid seaweed. After flowering, snap off the spent heads but leave the leaves to die back naturally — they refill the bulb for next year.

Tulips in pots can be lifted once leaves yellow, dried, stored in paper bags somewhere cool, and replanted in November.

Don't tie up or fold the dying leaves — every reduction in green leaf is a smaller bulb next year. Patience for six weeks is the price of perennial tulips.