Tulipa: Tulip
As winter winds down and we find ourselves longing for some warm weather and sunshine, tulips emerge to help us celebrate the new season!
Plant care & info
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Tulipa
Common Name: Tulip
Most are found in Central Asia and westward into Turkey and Southern Europe. There are over 100 species found in the wild, but what is commonly known as the garden tulip has been in cultivation since the 1500s in Turkey. It was brought to Europe from the imperial courts of Turkey and has been a garden favorite since.
Tulips like full sun when they are blooming. Rich, sandy soil is ideal, but they will do well with any good, fast-draining soil.
They will perform poorly if they are planted in a spot where other tulips were recently growing, so choose a new site or replace the soil in that area.
If you plant tulip bulbs in the fall, you’ll be rewarded with a dazzling array of blooms from March through May. The best time to plant your potted tulips is after their bloom time and once the foliage has withered. This ensures they can be planted at the appropriate depth. Potted tulips can also be planted before flowering. It is best to avoid planting them while they are in bloom, as disturbing their roots will shorten the life of flowers.
Tulip bulbs should be planted three times as deep as the bulbs are wide (roughly 6-8 inches deep) with the pointed side up. Space them about 4-8 inches apart, depending on how big the plant will eventually get.
When planting in containers, place the bulb with the flatter side towards the edge of the container so the foliage will grow out from the middle. This will encourage good air circulation and cut down on pest and disease problems.
Tulips are treated as an annual or a short-lived perennial because their flowering often declines after the first year. Once the flowering is in decline, it is recommended to replace the bulbs with new ones. An exception to this is the species tulips which keep blooming strong for many years.
To encourage blooming from year to year, it is recommended to fertilize with a bulb food before blooming. After bloom, the foliage will start to yellow and can be removed.
You can also try to give the bulbs a summer dormancy period. To do this, dig the bulbs after the foliage has turned yellow, and then store them in a cool, dry place until it is time to plant them in the fall.
Slugs can damage bulbs and emerging shoots. Aphids can attack the flower buds and distort the flowers. There is also a fungus called tulip fire that attacks young roots, destroying bulbs and emerging shoots. Dusting the bulbs with a sulphur fungicide before planting will help.
Tulips can be massed together in garden beds to give bright swaths of color, or put into containers for early spring color and a little pick-me-up by a front door. Smaller tulip varieties look great in rock gardens or small containers, and larger sizes are impressive when grouped together for spots of vibrant color. Most varieties make excellent cut flowers too!
Tulips are classified according to their bloom time: Early, mid-season, or late. Early tulips are called either ‘Single Early’ or ‘Double Early’ and will be the first to bloom. The mid-season tulips include the Triumph and the Darwin-hybrids. Both of these produce large, colorful flowers on tall stems. Many late season tulips are the fancy-petaled types, such as the lily-flowered, fringed, viridiflora, and parrot tulips.
There are also some straight-species tulips that are great in the garden, such as the Greigii, Kaufmanniana, and Fosteriana tulips. The Greigii tulips are a mid-season class with big flowers on short stems and brown spotted leaves. The Kaufmanniana tulips, also called water lily tulips, are early bloomers with three inch flowers that will open flat in the sun. The Fosteriana tulips bloom early with large, red blossoms on short stems.
