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Reliable tulips for years of spring joy!

Tulips add spring colour to a perennial or mixed border and are often used in annual beds. Native to the Near East, the genus name, Tulipa, is from the Turkish tulbend, meaning turban, a reference to the flower form.
Tulips

Tulips add spring colour to a perennial or mixed border and are often used in annual beds. Native to the Near East, the genus name, Tulipa, is from the Turkish tulbend, meaning turban, a reference to the flower form. They were cultivated and hybridized in Turkish gardens for centuries prior to their introduction to Holland and the garden of Carolus Clusius, a botany professor at the University of Leiden about1593. Stolen from his garden by botanical thieves, they quickly gained popularity among the wealthier Dutch. By the 1630s, “Tulipmania” was in full swing in Holland. Amid much speculation, enormous prices were paid for single bulbs, many with unusual striping or mottling. Unfortunately, these bulbs were not long-lived and many fortunes were lost. Both the unusual colouring and early demise of these bulbs were due to a virus.

Many tulips species and selections are not reliably hardy or long-lived on the prairies. Of the approximately five thousand tulip cultivars and species available, the ones listed below are among your best bets for dependable spring colour: they combine drought tolerance, hardiness and a reliable perennial habit.

Darwin hybrids are those derived from crosses of single late tulips and what were once known as Darwin and Cottage tulips with Tulipa fosteriana and other botanical species. Darwin hybrids are tall plants with single flowers of good size and colour on sturdy stems. Most are 18 to 22 inches tall.

‘Apeldoorn’ – red with persimmon orange edges and interior.

‘Beauty of Apeldoorn’ – yellow washed with orange.

‘Golden Apeldoorn’ – golden yellow.

‘Golden Oxford’ – golden yellow, black interior base.

‘Oxford’ – scarlet flushed with red.

‘Parade’ – red, large black interior base edged with yellow.

‘Pink Impression’ (‘Spring Pearl’) – large pink-rose flower.

From central Asia, the T. fosteriana hybrids have large flowers with wide petals and shiny foliage on stems 12–24 inches tall. All are early flowering. They are hybrids of T. fosteriana and T. greigii or T. kaufmanniana.

‘Orange Emperor’ – large, dark orange, early, 18 inches

‘Pink Emperor’ – pink with pearl sheen, 14 inches

‘Red Emperor’ (‘Madam Lefeber’) – red with black centre, 16 inches

‘White Emperor’ (‘Purissima’) – white with yellow interior, 16 inches

‘Yellow Emperor’ – yellow, 16 inches

Tulipa greigii hybrids are short and multi-stemmed, with large, cup-shaped, early blooms. From central Asia, the species is red-orange with distinctive foliage characterized by purple-and-green striping or mottling.

‘Red Riding Hood’ – carmine red and scarlet, 14 inches

‘Toronto’ – salmon-pink, 12 inches

Tulipa praestans hybrids, from central Asia and Turkestan, are 8 to 12 inches tall with multiple flowers in mid-spring.

‘Fusilier’ – vermillion red-dark orange, glaucous grey-green foliage, 10–12 inches

‘Van Tubergen’ – large orange scarlet flowers, 10 inches

Tulipa tarda, from central Asia, is only 4–6 inches tall, with yellow, white-tipped petals. It very quickly forms low colonies and is truly perennial. No garden should be without it! An excellent addition to your rock garden.

Tulipa urumiensis, native to Lake Urumia in Iran, is also a low colonizer, 5 inches tall with yellow petals. Also for use in rock gardens.

Tulip Planting Instructions

Tulips do best in full sun with good soil drainage. Purchase them as soon as they become available in the fall and plant them immediately. The rule of thumb for planting bulbs: dig a hole 2 to 3 times as deep as the bulb is tall. Add bonemeal (a source of phosphorous and nitrogen) to the bottom of the hole to encourage strong rooting. Water well, mulch with weed-free straw and hope for an early and continuous snow cover – their best insulation!