WithTulips What to plant
Add a little va-va-voom to your tulip display next year with perennials, biennials and bulbs that really bring out the best in this spring essential, says Hazel Sillver
ONE of our most popular garden flowers, tulips have been delighting us for centuries. But despite what the song might have you believe, they were not, originally from Amsterdam. In fact, the first shipment of tulip bulbs arrived in the Belgian port of Antwerp in 1562, having travelled by sea from Constantinople (now Istanbul) in Turkey. Europeans fell for these colourful bulbous perennials in a big way and, these days, they’re synonymous with spring.
The flowers are so lovely that it is tempting to plant them alone, en masse. But doing so can leave borders looking rather old-fashioned. Tulips are, in fact, the ultimate mixers and they’re more than happy to share the spotlight with other spring flowers. In fact, picking the right partners will give your tulip plantings a whole new lease of life.
For a contemporary look, team tulips with grasses: perennial forms such as Stipa tenuissima provide a show for the whole of the summer (and into autumn), while evergreen species give yearround interest. Try bronze-leaved Carex comans in tandem with claret Tulipa ‘Black Parrot’ and the crimson ‘Antraciet’
Euphorbias (spurge) also look fabulous with tulips and will really liven up the garden with their acid yellow tones. Grow tulips in front of the larger forms or amongst compact species such as E. oblongata and E. epithymoides.
Be inspired by Beth Chatto, whose Essex garden shows how beautiful small yellow and white species tulip T. tarda looks with layers of euphorbias. For a similar effect, opt for yellow, cream and white tulip cultivars (the likes of ‘Moonlight Girl’ and ‘White Triumphator’). Or choose a scheme of bold pink, orange and red, which will ramp up the colour of your euphorbias to the max.
Tangerine dream
You could also consider orange spurges (E. griffithii ‘Fireglow’ or ‘Dixter’). With their tangerine bracts and dark foliage, they partner well with burgundy and pink tulips such as ‘Queen of Night’ and ‘Menton’. Meanwhile, for a splash of scarlet, the heart-shaped flowers of Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Valentine’ will be brought to life by tulips in complementary shades of maroon and deep red – like those of ‘Paul Scherer’ and ‘National Velvet’.
Try something different
If you don’t feel up to tackling a major border overhaul, simply rethinking your tulip choices can work wonders. The addition of a few carefully chosen varieties will make a huge difference, transforming the overall effect in one quick and easy move.
Slender, lily-flowered forms such as ‘West Point’ are a good bet. And if you really want to plant nothing but tulips, consider sticking to a white lily-flowered variety (again, ‘White Triumphator’ is a winner). This will look lovely on its own amongst greenery; or enclosed by box hedging or similar evergreens. The effect is understated yet very stylish.
Before deciding, take time to explore the options and decide what works for you. It’s no exaggeration to say that there is a tulip for every style of garden – and there’s no limit to the effects you can achieve with the right planting partners.