Plan your own spring Tulip Mania
Our expert picks the best bulbs for you to plant now for fabulous blooms next year
While my first passion is daffodils, I can't imagine my garden without tulips. There's such a rich tapestry of colours, shapes, heights and different forms that I have to have them in the borders complementing my late daffodils and extending the season.
Like daffodils, tulips prefer a well-drained, moisture-retentive soil. If your soil's heavy or prone to waterlogging then it's essential to add grit and well-rotted compost to improve the drainage. The one thing tulips dislike more than anything is sitting in vey wet soil. Tulips are very versatile, so if your soil is really bad or there's no room in the border, they're excellent in tubs or even hanging baskets. There are plenty of short varieties with bright colours that are suitable for this.
The best time to plant tulips is in October, but as long as the soil isn't too wet or frozen, tulips can still be planted in November and even in December and give excellent results. One of the first varieties I'll plant will be ‘Red
Riding Hood’ (AGM) This is a T. greigii type flowering in April and no more than 30cm (1ft) tall. This will go in the front of the border but also in tubs. What I like about this variety is you get two shows for the price one because it has beautiful maroon-striped foliage. Another old favourite is ‘Heart’s Delight’. This is a kaufmanniana type with red flowers edged with rosy white. No taller than 20cm (8in) and one of the earliest, often showing in March, it reminds me of my family home where father planted some that kept coming back year after year long after he had passed away.
Despite the hassle of watering when growing in pots and tubs, I still have them all over the place. Partly because there's no room in the border but also so I can replace faded flowers with new colour. One tub will definitely have ‘National Velvet’ in it. At 40cm (1¼ft) it might seem a bit tall, but the velvet maroon-red flowers with a hint of purple contrast so well with the light brick of my house that it will look stunning. As it's mid-season flowering it will go into a deep tub and have Iris reticulata planted on top of it to add early interest.
I always try to have something different for visitors to talk about and one variety guaranteed to get people talking is T. praestans ‘Shogun’. This April-flowering variety is only 20cm (8in) tall but it's multi-headed and has soft yellow/orange flowers.
Over the years, one of my favourite varieties has been ‘Shirley’, a mid-season ivory white with a soft purple edge. This year, however, she'll be missing because there's a new kid on the block
– ‘Double Shirley’. It’s obviously a sport of 'Shirley' with the same colouring but the many petals in the flower give the illusion of a small peony. Slightly later flowering and at 50cm (1¾ft), I'm looking forward to her appearance in the front border.
There are so many different colours and forms that when I'm trying to choose what to grow it's like being in the sweet shop and being told to choose one. For sure, one that will be there this year is ‘Apricona’. At 40cm (1¼ft) it has large, rose-pink flowers on strong stems, which will help it stand up in my windy borders. Somehow I'm also going to have to find room for ‘Ballerina’. The elegant flower looks like a champagne flute and is fragrant. At 50cm (1¾ft) tall it needs to go in some shade where the orange-yellow flowers can be enjoyed.