|
|
|
|
|
I’ve been suffering from Tulipmania for many years
and have always been attracted to the smaller species and
their cultivars that are suitable for rockeries and
troughs. In
late summer garden centre shelves are filled with suitable
small growing tulips. The choice is getting better every
year. Mail order offers a wider range of bulbs. The
names listed at the end of this article
are among the best in Europe
|
| Don’t believe that tulips are throw
away and last only one season. This only makes more money
for suppliers. I have never thrown away tulip. Also
don’t believe that saving tulips until January before
planting them makes a better plant. The longer a bulb is
out of the ground the more dehydrated and stressed it
gets. When planted moulds can very quickly destroy the
bulbs. |
| Buy your bulbs as soon as you see them
and try to plant them within a few days. I don’t give
mine any special treatment other than to add some bone
meal at the bottom of the planting hole. The beds I grow
my tulips in are very different. One has a clay soil and
the other is very light and humus rich. Those in troughs
are in a gritty mix. |
|
Last year I decided to buy some of the
March flowering tulips. It’s a bit confusing to see
tulip buds appearing at the end of February and to have
pots of colour by March 10th.
I have grouped the tulips in my garden
in three groups according to where they look best –
troughs, rockery and beds |
|
|
|
| Troughs
What
about a tulip that flowers during snowdrop time
and continues in to April? |
| Tulipa
neustruevae has the longest flowering period
of any tulip that I grow. It’s very short with
flowers that reach about 2 inches 5 cm high. The
outer three petals are backed with green with a
hint of pink. The inside is bright yellow |
|
|
|
| In
troughs you don’t want tulips that will get too
high. T. aucheriana is the shortest I grow and it’s grown in one
trough with a few in troughs around it to make it
look like they are seeding. |
| It
grows to a height of about 2 inches 5 cm. Their
colour is dark dirty pink with a paler ring
towards the centre. Their flower buds are at soil
level just now but they are at their best in late
April. |
|
|
|
| T.
sogdiana
is a lovely small delicate tulip for March
reaching about 20cm 8 inches
high. The outside of the petals is various
shades of silvery green and pink. The inner three
are silvery white with a green stripe on the
outside. Inside the centre is yellow. |
| (Sogdiana
was an ancient Asian kingdom centred
around the fabled city of Samarkand) |
|
|
|
|
T.
iliensis
is another dainty tulip that flowers, for me, in
March. The outside is peach with a hint of green.
The three inners are bright yellow. The height is
also around 8 inches 20cm.
|
| 8 inches 20 cm may sound tall but the
three tulips above are very dainty. They are also
very suitable for rockery and pot culture |
|
|
|
|
|
| Rockery |
| On the rockery I grow some of the
special T.
clusiana cultivars like Sheila, Honky Tonk and
Tubergens Gem. These tulips gets the most oos and
ahhs and queries from people passing by. Although
they can reach 30cm 12 inches their flowers are
carried on slender stems. The flowers are tall and
slim also. You would hardly notice the leaves if
they are coming up through Narcissus and Galanthus.
En masse they look fantastic especially if the
cultivars are grown in blocks. They seed freely so
if you want the cultivars to remain pure remove
the seed heads before they shed their seeds. The
easiest to get hold of are Lady Jane, Tinka and
Honky Tonk. Lady Jane is a deep pinky red on the
outside and white inside. Tinka is pale clean red
on the outer three petals with clean pale yellow
inside. Honky Tonk is the shortest T. clusiana. It
is almost pure yellow but the outer three have a
tinge of peach.
|
|
In pots for now but will go in to the
raised beds when dormant are the, new to me, large
flowered March flowering selections of species
tulips. They are around 16 inches 40cm tall. The
outsides are richly coloured but when they open
you’ll be running for the camera like I did.
Tulipa kaufmanniana Johan Sebastian Bach changes
colour from creamy white to glistening pink on the
inside
I’ll not describe them and let the
photos do the talking
|
|
 |
 |
|
T.
clusiana 'Lady Jane'
|
T.
clusiana 'Lady Jane'
|
|
 |
 |
|
T.
clusiana 'Honky Tonk'
|
T.
clusiana 'Honky Tonk'
|
 |
 |
|
T.
clusiana 'Tinka' |
T.
clusiana 'Tinka' |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
T. kaufmanniana
Fair Lady
|
T. kaufmanniana
Voshod Solnka
|
T. kaufmanniana
Johan Sebastian Bach
|
 |
 |
 |
|
T. kaufmanniana
Fair Lady
|
T. kaufmanniana
Voshod Solnka
|
T. kaufmanniana
Johan Sebastian Bach
|
|
|
|
.jpg)