Tulip mania

Tulips are one of my most favourite flowers. They are truly an amazing bulb, each one a guaranteed promise of a spectacular flower in the spring. They come in different flower shapes, some are early flowering, some late flowering, some are single and some double but all have a colourful bloom and are perfect for planting now.

Tulips have an interesting history. First introduced to Europe from turkey in the late 1500s, they quickly became the flower of choice. In Europe at that time there was nothing quite like them and everyone wanted them. Dutch investors quickly began buying them up and their prices rocketed. Tulips sold for thousands, and at the peak of tulip mania in 1637 some single bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. The holy grail of tulips was the red and white flowered ‘Semper Augustus’, the most expensive tulip of all time. Just before the crash one single bulb was worth 5,500 guiders. (Below is a similar modern variety).

Of course eventually the bubble burst, prices drastically collapsed overnight leaving many people bankrupt and destitute. Nowadays, tulips are still in demand but thankfully they’re not quite so expensive.

Widely available in all the garden centres as bulbs in the winter months, and as pots of ready grown bulbs in the spring, they add a touch of class and elegance to any garden, especially when planted en mass. Talking of which we planted hundreds and hundreds of tulip bulbs in one of our last garden designs and they looked absolutely spectacular in May.

Tulips are divided into 15 or so groups; single early tulips, single late tulips, mid season tulips, lily flowering tulips, parrot tulips, viridiflora tulips, species tulips and so on, suffice to say there’s a tulip for everyone.

Here are a handful of good performers to look out for:

Tulip 'Ballerina' - a spectacular orange tulip. Reliable to come up year after year in my experience. Looks great when planted next to the purple of Tulip 'Negrita' or 'Attila'

Tulip ‘Negrita’ – A mid season tulip with an impressive imperial purple flower that looks great either on its own or mixed with the ivory white of Tulip ‘White Dream’. This is one you often see in stately home gardens.

Tulip ‘Queen of the Night’- This is probably one of the most popular tulips on sale at the moment. It’s a single late variety with a very dark purple, almost black flower. It looks particularly good when planted in a contemporary garden.

Tulip ‘Sorbet’ – Another single late tulip with an unusual bi-coloured flower in white with red flecks, a bit like the ‘Semper Augustus’ tulip from the 17th century but a fraction of the cost.

Tulip ‘Apeldoorn’ – ‘Apeldoorn’ is probably the most well known tulip in the world, the one that everyone thinks of when you imagine a tulip. It’s a Darwin hybrid tulip with large scarlet red flower heads on sturdy stems. It can reach 60cm tall and flowers from the end of April into May.

Tulipa praestans ‘Fusilier’ – This is a dwarf species tulip which has flaming scarlet flowers, reaching heights of 30cm in mid spring. It’s also lucky enough to have been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Award of Garden Merit’, a good indication of its excellence

Tulip' Violet Beauty' – Another stunning single late tulip that has a soft mauve violet flower with a lavender base. It can get to 45cm high and flowers in late April early May.

Tulip ‘Florosa’ – Viridiflora tulips are quite unusual and this one is no exception. It has a slender fluted shape, a delicate pink and cream flower with a subtle green base.

Plant the bulbs in full sun in November to December, 10 – 15cm deep in well drained soil and they should thrive. You can even leave it until January and they'll still come up, albeit a bit later on.

In our experience, gardens just don’t have enough tulips, they are easy to plant and easy to look after. You won’t be disappointed and with so many varieties to chose from there’s no excuse to go a bit crazy.