Tulip tutorial

Tulip season is just around the corner – at least it is for those of living in the north. Southerners will need to wait a little longer for their favourite bulbs to bloom. Whether it’s in a public park or your own garden, take note of these gracious flowers and you will find that colour aside, they are not all the same. Nor do they all flower at the same time. In fact, the tulip ‘season’ can last for up to six wonderful weeks!

Early birds

Fragrant Emperor tulips are the first of the season to show colour. They bloom in early to mid-spring and their huge flowers measure up to 12cm across. Because their stems are sturdy and on the short side (25-50cm tall) they are able to withstand strong winds. As the flowers are imposing, you need plant only a few Emperors, in a group, to make a statement.

Kaufmanniana is often called the ‘water lily’ tulip because its 6 pointed petals open out as its namesake’s does. Like the Emperors, water lily tulips, with their 20cm high stems, are hardy and built to withstand tough, early-spring weather. Anyone who has seen them gracing the mountainsides in their native Eastern European ‘stan’ habitats will appreciate just how robust these beauties are. Kaufmannana tulips are one of the few which don’t need to be dug up and replanted. In fact, they resent being disturbed until having been in the ground at least 3 years, by which time they are ready to be split up.

Mid-season madness

Greigii are relatives of Turkestan tulips, and bring a riot of mid-spring colour in bright streaks across pretty petals. Unbelievably, Greigii sport 2-4 flowers per stem which makes them excellent value. Their stems are short and they look fabulous in rock garden settings and containers.

Tall mid-spring blooming tulips may well be Triumphs. With stems 45-50cm height, these rainbow coloured beauties often form the backdrop to more diminutive bulbs. They are excellent tulips for beginners to plant because of their reliable flowering and sheer showiness.

Late-comers

Just when we think the tulip season is coming to an end, Lily-flowered tulips delight us with their pointy, inward-curving petals. In more colours that you can imagine, they are born on slender stems 40-60cm high. Because the stems are easily damaged in the wind, these lovely blooms are usually to be found in a sheltered spot (in front of a hedge or growing up among taller foliage which provides some support for them). Their fragile appearance means are best planted en masse (at least 15-20 bulbs in a group).

Parrot tulips, with their feathery-fringed petals, burst out of their green buds in late spring. Although their 35-60cm stems are quite strong, the heaviness of the large blooms signals that the bulbs should be grown in groups in a sheltered spot. Unfortunately, parrots are susceptible to cold weather which continues for more than a few days so success cannot always be guaranteed.

This tulip season, be sure to take your digital notebook and mobile camera out and about with you to record these tulips and the many more varieties that keep on coming on right through spring and into early summer.