Plant guide: Tulips
There is surely no other plant that so cheerfully heralds the arrival of Spring as the glorious tulip.
A favourite with almost every gardener, the sign of the first tulip shoots appearing above the ground fill us with hope for the warmer months ahead.
A wonderfully adaptable plant, tulips can shine in a huge range of situations. A mass of one single variety in a pot on the front doorstep will bring just as much joy as swathes of different colours and flower types growing in a mixed garden border.
Botanical name: Tulipa
Plant type
Bulbous perennial
Tulips are planted as bulbs in the Autumn, their first green shoots appearing above the ground in late Winter and the flowers open the following Spring. Conditions in the UK are often not hugely favourable for repeat flowering on consecutive years (the soil usually doesn’t get as dry and warm enough over the Summer as the plants would like, so bulbs can easily rot) so tulips are often treated as annuals, and planted fresh every year.
Growing conditions
Tulips need full sun and prefer a well-drained but moist soil.
In warmer conditions, where the bulbs can bake over the Summer months, they will re-grow in consecutive years, but in less ideal spots, new bulbs will need to be planted each Autumn. They’re particularly happy growing in pots, where they are more likely to repeat in following years, but again need a sunny spot.
How to plant
Plant tulip bulbs in Autumn for flowering the following Spring.
It’s best to plant tulip bulbs fairly late, in October or November, when colder temperatures will have killed off most of the fungal diseases in the soil. But make sure to choose a day when the soil is not waterlogged (or frozen if it’s a particularly cold year).
If planting in the ground: using a bulb planter, or a Japanese gardening knife, create a hole approximately three times deeper than the size of the bulb. Place the bulb at the bottom of the hole, pointed side up – on a small handful of horticultural grit if you are planting on especially heavy clay soil – and cover the top. Leave a bigger space between larger bulbs and a smaller space between smaller bulbs – a rough visual guide is to leave enough space for another similar sized bulb in between each one.
Planting in pot
If planting in pots, you can space bulbs closer together, though avoid them touching each other. Fill the pot about 2/3 full with compost, lay the bulbs on the top – pointed side upwards – and cover with enough compost so they are three times their own height deep under the surface. To create a long flowering period in a pot, with a few different varieties of tulip, or other Spring flowering bulbs, you can layer up a “bulb lasagna.” Plant up to three different layers of bulbs on top of each other, with the biggest at the bottom, and the smallest at the top, with a layer of compost in between roughly the size of a bulb. There are even plastic mesh trays available to buy that you can simply place your bulbs on and then cover with compost.
Protecting from squirrels
Tulip bulbs seem to be especially popular with squirrels, who will cheerfully dig over an entire pot to get to them, or make holes in your borders. If squirrels are a problem in your garden, a square of chicken wire tacked down onto the top of pots is usually enough to deter them. You can remove it once the green shoots start to appear. In beds, if it’s possible, cover the freshly planted area with either chicken wire or hardware cloth (a metal mesh with smaller holes) and then secure in place with a layer of mulch. If this isn’t practical because of other plants in the way, then a layer of sharp gravel may also be a deterrent. Be sure to clear up any remnants of planting – papery husks etc – so that the squirrels are less aware of the tasty bulbs below…
Watering the bulbs
Bulbs growing in the ground shouldn’t need watering for the Winter months.
Pots with bulbs in will need watering through any particularly dry spells in Winter, to avoid the pot completely drying out.
Care:
Once the first shoots start to appear in the Spring, water if there are extended dry periods – especially if growing in pots.
Flowers that have gone over and died can be deadheaded, but don’t cut back the foliage. Once all the flowers are over, cut back all the flower stalks and leave the foliage to die back, as this is when the plant redirects its energy and resources back to the bulb to bulk up again for the following year. Bulbs in pots can be planted in the ground once they are over. Bulbs in the ground can simply be left, but be aware that many won’t grow back the subsequent year.
Uses:
Tulips are a perfect cut flower. Cut the flower stalk close to the ground as the bud is just about to bloom. They will last in water for up to two weeks, but also die back in a very attractive way too – the petals opening wider in a blowsy display and colours usually fading to attractive dusky tones.
Grow with:
Anything! Tulips look good in almost all garden situations. A standalone selection in pots is arresting. Mix with other Spring flowering bulbs for a flamboyant and colourful display. Or grow with foliage plants or in amongst evergreen shrubs, to provide contrast and structure.
Our favourite varieties:
We grow different tulips every year, it’s always fun to experiment with something new.
This year we’ve planted lots of bulbs of ‘La Belle Epoque’ – a glorious tonal peach coloured flower (pictured above), which fades out to a stunning dusty pink. It looks especially good as a cut flower and in photographs. There is an increasing range of these “vintage” coloured tulips available – Sarah Raven’s website always has an irresistible selection.
Tulipa ‘Queen of Night’ has a deep purple coloured flower which makes a hugely dramatic statement. (And also combines beautifully with La Belle Epoque.)
“Parrot tulips” are an incredibly unusual type of tulip, with petals that have frilly edges. ‘Black Parrot’ is a deep chocolate coloured variety and ‘Amazing Parrot’ has tones of pink and peach, with outer green petals that is especially spectacular.
Finally, have a look for the “peony-flowered” tulips, which have a mass of tightly curled petals, resembling peonies, opening to a blowsy impressive flower. ‘White Mountain’ is one of our favourites.
