Best of the bunch

Tulip AS daffodils fade, so tulips are emerging in too many different colours to mention and in many different varieties, some with almost frilly flowers which mingle happily with orange, yellow and burgundy wallflowers, others which look better grouped as standalone specimens.

If you’re looking for a more flamboyant variety, look to the Parrot tulips which have frilly, fringed petals in late spring.

Good choices include the red and yellow T. ‘Flaming Parrot’ or T. ‘Estella Rijnveld’ which is red and white, while more subtle varieties include T. ‘Spring Green’, a Viridiflora variety with single cream flowers with partly greenish petals, or ‘Queen of Night’, a deep burgundy-black variety which looks great against a green backdrop mixed with acid-coloured wallflowers.

Plant tulips in late autumn in welldrained, fertile soil in full sun.

Some need to be lifted after they have flowered and stored until planting time comes around again, while others can remain in the ground to flower again the following year.