bewginning perennial flower garden - tulips

Have you been in the habit of removing them ? If I were in your shoes I would continue as you have been doing, but if you leave the bulbs in the ground, take care to avoid them as far as possible when you plant the perennials.
Do let us know how you get on. :-)

Are the tulips planted deeply? If so, there's no reason for removing them - as Xela says, avoid them - easily done by marking where they are with little sticks or plant labels while you can still see the leaves!

I would leave them in, these days lots of tulips only come once and then seem to disappear, the ones that keep repeat flowering are usually the old fashioned yellow tulip which can make good clumps in time.

Have a look at my pictures - I have an island bed which is devoted to perennials, BUT also has tulips!! The tulips tend to be towards the front of the bed where they get the most sun, but they have done well there and are obviously happy in this setting. The perennials do eventually cover them by mid May, but doesn't seem to matter.

Hi Buzzbee - have a look at my pictures - I have 3 varieties of tulips in my island bed, which is all herbaceous perennials. I planted them about 5 or 6 years ago. Originally planted 10 bulbs of each variety. They have flowered reliably since then and I now get about 3-5 flowers per each original bulb planted. I wouldn't bother with tulips if I had to lift and replant them each year - I simply wouldn't have the time. The only other thing I would add here is that I think it's a lot to do with the variety you use whether they come back a second year. The more 'highly bred' they are - minitures/frosted/striped/other weird-looking ones - the less likely they are to come back a second year. If you want them to come back, choose the big, tall 'bog-standard' ones that tend to come in solid colours - big yellow, red or white ones for example. Sarah.