FOR ALL OCCASIONS
From big and blousy, to fringed and fabulous, Sue Fisher discovers that there’s a perfect tulip out there to suit everyone’s tastes
Tulips are a magnificent group of spring bulbs that offer such an incredible choice of wonderful flowers that go so far beyond the classic image we all have of cup-shaped single-colour blooms.
From dainty little species and elegant singles, to big and blousy doubles, fringed, and dramatic multicolours, there are tulips that suit every type of garden location and everyone’s taste.
Choose from literally thousands of varieties to fill the whole of spring with a gloriously spirit-lifting surge of colour, with a succession of tulips that flower from early March to the end of May. Plant in pots and window boxes, in raised beds, borders, banks, rock gardens, or grow to harvest for cut flowers.
Tulips are grouped into divisions according to flower structure and flowering time, and here we pick our selection of the most outstanding, colourful, and diverse blooms you can get your hands on.
Wild species and small-flowered hybrids are the daintiest of tulips at just 10-15cm tall, perfect to create gorgeous little pops of colour, and are among the first to flower. In the wild, tulips are found across Europe and Central Asia, growing on rocky slopes and mountain gorges, so plant in garden sites that mimic these conditions like banks, rock gardens, and border edges, for these little darlings to reflower for years. Among the best of the species is Tulipa tarda, bearing three to six yellow and white flowers per stem. Colourful small-flowered hybrids include vivid rose-purple ‘Little Beauty’ and pink, yellow-centred ‘Lilac Wonder’.
Greigii hybrids are also early to bloom, mostly in March, and give a double whammy of good looks, combining attractively brown-striped and splashed leaves along with vibrantly coloured flowers. Blooms are borne on sturdy short stems 25-30cm high, standing up well to early spring winds and rain. Colours major on reds and yellows; two of the brightest are ‘Calypso’ with orange-red petals lined with yellow, and glowing red ‘Toronto’ that bears two to three flowers on each stem. Softer-coloured options include rose-pink and apricot.
