We asked three experts to name their favourite varieties of tulips and reveal their top tips for growing and displaying tulips.
Autumn and early winter is the time to plant tulips in the garden. Follow these expert tips and recommendations to create the best possible display of tulips.
Sally Petitt, head of horticulture at Cambridge Botanic Garden on species tulips:
- Most species tulips enjoy well-drained, sunny sites (except Tulipa sprengeri, which grows well in sites that retain some moisture in summer), so add a handful of grit or sharp sand to the planting hole.
- If you are gardening on heavy, wet soils, plant bulbs in aquatic baskets and then plunge in borders – these can then be lifted in early summer to stand and dry over summer and replunged in autumn.
- Plant bulbs deep, at least three times the height of the bulb.
- Three species tulips that I recommend are T. linifolia, T. sprengeri and T. tarda.
Paul Blom from Bloms Bulbs shares his favourite varieties:
- Some of the best late tulips include ‘Dordogne’, ‘Menton’, ‘Maureen’, ‘Big Smile’ and ‘Kingsblood’ – perhaps the best of all the red tulips.
- Of the more exotic tulips, ‘Texas Gold’ and ‘Black Parrot’ are both very effective later in the season. The viridiflora ‘Artist’ tulips will also provide an excellent show and are particularly effective in containers, although they do require a reasonably sunny aspect to bring out their full colour.
Sarah Raven says:
- Keep tulip stems firm and upright after cutting: first remove most of their leaves after picking, then leave them to stand in a bucket of cold water through chicken wire attached over the top. After four to six hours, the stems will be completely straight and won’t hang forlornly over the edge of a vase.
- Varieties for cutting include Tulipa ‘Helmar’, ‘Jan Reus’ and ‘Bruine Wimpel’, which flower from April to May and feature in Sarah’s Dutch Still Life Collection. For scented varieties, she suggests May-flowering Tulipa ‘Night Rider’, ‘Orange Favourite’ and ‘Muriel’, available in her Harlequin Tulip Collection.
For more advice on planting spring bulbs, click here.
