Bury your treasure now November is the best time to plant tulip bulbs, ready for a spring show

Angelique

ONE of my favourite gardening jobs in November is planting tulips. I did some bulb planting in September, bedding in white daffodils, crocuses and anemones under the trees.

However, it’s always recommended that you leave tulips until this month as the onset of cold weather is thought to help prevent tulip fire blight. This is a fungal disease which causes brown mottling to the leaves, and stunted flowers.

If this does happen, you need to get rid of the bulbs and avoid planting tulips in the same area for a few years.

It’s also a good idea to inspect bulbs before planting. You want healthy looking specimens, the fatter the better.

If you see signs of mould, you’re best to discard now. There’s a wonderful number of varieties available today and if you prefer to choose by colour you are spoilt for choice, from the most striking reds and purples through dreamy pastels and combinations in between.

However, there are a few other factors to bear in mind. Tulips can begin flowering in early spring and some, such as the wonderfully dark Queen of the Night, will bring you to early summer.

So, by mixing up the types available you can easily extend the tulip season over several months.

There is also versatility when it comes to flower shapes. I love the Parrot cultivars with their curvy wavy petals – the blue and black ones especially.

Double-flowered tulips are also very pretty and are often compared to peonies because of the blousy fulsome nature of the petals. ‘Angelique’ is one of the best known, a delightful concoction of pale pink and cream which is beautiful for cutting and indoor displays.

Or you may prefer the classic vase shape of the Triumph tulips, for example the glorious ‘Princess Irene’ in her cloak of orange and purple.

Another consideration is durability. Many of these highly bred tulips will only last a season. In hotter areas they may re-bloom the following year but not always as big or as brightly. For this reason, many gardeners treat tulips as annuals and replant fresh varieties every year. However, species varieties such as T. clusiana will naturalise and spread. Good old fashioned Darwin hybrids, which are generally red, pink or yellow, are also reliable and are

Darwin

T. clusiana sometimes called perennial tulips as they will perform for a few years. If you do leave tulips in the ground, I’d recommend feeding them next spring to give them a boost.

Those planted in sunny, welldrained areas which get a good summer baking have the best chance of flowering for a couple of years.

You can also improve chances of re-flowering if you lift the tulips after flowering when all the foliage has died back, and store them somewhere warm before replanting next autumn.

One final point – should you grow them in pots or in the ground? I prefer pots because you can remove them out of sight as soon as they have finished flowering, whereas they can be quite messy as they die down in borders.

Also, with pots you have more control over the growing conditions – well-drained compost is ideal as they don’t like sitting in soggy, cold wet soil.

Princess Irene

Tulips will thrive in well draining compost