HOW TO GROW VIBRANT TULIPS
Anne explains how to lift, dry and divide bulbs
TULIPS first came to Europe from Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the 16th century and their gorgeous blooms were an instant hit. Native to Central Asia, they had been cultivated in Turkey for centuries and appear to owe their name to ‘tulbent’, the Turkish name for turban, or even the Persian ‘dulband’. It is possible the pointed turbans of Ottoman sultans were thought to resemble closed tulips, or they may have tucked the flowers into them.
In Britain we began by calling them ‘tulipants’, from the French ‘tulipan’ (later ‘tulipe’). Intriguing colour breaks caused by a virus were so coveted in Holland, they were traded as a commodity. By 1634, tulipomania was making and breaking fortunes, with speculators gambling on bulbs that had yet to open and in some cases didn’t even exist.
Fortunately for us, we can now enjoy our tulipants easily and cheaply. Bulbs are planted in autumn to bloom the following spring and a display is almost failsafe. There are many cultivars arranged into groups, and between them they offer early to late spring flowers, short and tall plants, singles, doubles and all colours of the rainbow. Unlike daffodils, however, tulips don’t always naturalise well. This means that if you leave them in after flowering, a few might show the following year but they won’t give a reliable display.
In part, this is explained by the tulip’s natural habitat of arid plains and mountainous slopes, where they enjoy good drainage, long cool springs and hot dry summers. Our maritime climate is more variable, with rain and dry periods arriving randomly throughout the year. Tulips also struggle on wetter soils and can suffer from winter waterlogging on clay. Species tulips such as pink and yellow Tulipa saxatilis do naturalise well, however, and are ideal for narrow borders, dry gardens and rockeries.
Late October and November are the best planting times, because cooler temperatures help to discourage the fungal disease tulip fire. Now’s the time for you to get ahead and plan where a display of tulips will be most welcome, decide on colours and order the bulbs. They are easy to slot in amongst herbaceous perennials and look great in containers.
For something different, you can seek out unusual shades like the sumptuous brownish-plum of ‘La Belle Epoch’, an early double at 18in (45cm). Some tulips are lily flowered, but there are also showy parrots, enormous Darwins and cultivars with several blooms to a stem.