It’s time to go Dutch
Rembrandt tulips come in an array of varieties and colours – and they’re at their best right now
FINALLY it’s tulip time again – and one glance at these elegant floral goblets and you can see why everyone loves them.
They may be short or tall, cupshaped or “lily-flowered”, single or double and in single or multiple colour combinations. Their colour range is wide (everything except true blue) and they are incredibly obliging garden plants.
If I had to plump for one favourite group of tulips it would be the Rembrandt types. These beauties are flamed with a contrasting colour and were adored by the Dutch masters of the 17th and
18th centuries, who painted them in mixed arrangements with crown imperials, carnations, roses and the like – totally unconcerned about mixing the seasons together.
Each of these “painted” tulips is a work of art and if you are lucky enough to have them in
your garden, you can enjoy them over the next few weeks. November is tulip planting time but the important thing to do now is to get out and admire as many of them as you can. Make a note of the names of the ones you like best so you can order them in summer from specialist bulb merchants and be sure of getting the pick of the bunch. If you already have them in your garden, what do you need to do? Well, tulips are normally dug up after their flowers fade and dried off before the faded foliage is pulled away from the bulbs.
You’ll find a cluster of bulbs at the bottom of every stalk and, with any luck, the largest of these will flower next year. Prise the cluster apart and discard the smallest. Store the bulbs in a cool, dry place.
If you can’t be doing with all the palaver of digging them up after flowering, then simply pull off the foliage and leave the bulbs in the ground.
But the main thing to do is enjoy these beautiful flowers in all their glory.
Each of these “painted” tulips is a work of art and if you are lucky enough to have them in your garden, you can enjoy them over the next few weeks