Tulips in the Spring Garden
Lily, Species, Single Early, Single Late and Darwin Tulips explained
May 9, 2007
Tulips are versatile and varied. Of the 15 Tulip classes, some make excellent cut flowers. Others can stand up to the strongest winds and naturalize quickly. A few can do both – and more. Here are some of the best for the spring garden.
Lily Flowered Tulips
These flowers look most like the original Turkish Tulips with their hourglass blooms and flared pointed petals. Strong bendable stems and a tough constitution make them ideal for outdoor planting. They grow up to 24 inches (60cm) and flower in May.
Darwin Tulips
Big bright and beautiful, these are giants among Tulips, growing to 28 inches (70cm), with vivid closed bell-shaped buds that open into billowing bowl-shaped flowers. Indoors, they make handsome cut flowers. Outdoors, pots, borders and naturalizing all suit them, although their long stems may snap in strong winds. Americans buy more of this versatile Tulip than any other.
Greigii Tulips
Despite their delicate appearance, these are the toughest of all Tulips and among the best for naturalizing. They're a welcome sight in the garden between mid March and mid April, when their pyramid-shaped buds open into large cocktail-glass shaped flowers with striking flared and pointed petals. Bright colors and patterned leaves add to the effect. Low growing, they will only reach a height of 8-12 inches (20-30cm), making them ideal for rock gardens, small containers and for growing in long grass.
Species Tulips
This category includes all wild Tulips and their cultivated descendants no matter what their appearance or flowering time. As they grow naturally in the wild, most naturalize very well.
Kaufmanniana Tulips
Early flowering and low growing, these Tulips are ideal for unusual early spring displays and they can be left undisturbed to flower away year on year. Pointed petals form star-shaped flowers that flatten under the sun to resemble water lilies. Leaves are usually mottled or striped. Height is between 6 inches (15cm) and 10 inches (25cm) and flowering time is mid March.
Single Early Tulips
Single Tulips are perhaps the most elegant and vibrant of all. Single Early Tulips grow to about 8 inches (20cm) and flower from late March to early April. Early enough to wake the garden up from winter alongside daffodils and hyacinths. For example, Tulipa Duc van Thol comes in red, purple, pink and yellow and dates back to the seventeenth century. They are very wind resistant.
Single Late Tulips
These are the tallest, most diverse and latest flowering of all Tulips. Flowering in May, they grow to 30 inches (75 cm) and come in colors of white, apricot, yellow, orange, red, purple, pink, and deep purple.
