Tulip Bulbs

In colour and form tulip bulbs is the most astonishingly varied of all spring bulbs. If you pick your varieties well you’ll have a succession of flower for a full three months.

Early flowering varieties include dwarf hybrids such as Scarlet Baby which are perfect for window boxes. The taller types of tulip like Estelle Rijnveld will explode with colour in May.

If you want to establish tulips so they come back year after year you will need a good free draining soil and a sunny south facing position where they can enjoy the sun. Dig nutrient rich compost through the soil before starting to plant the bulbs. Tulips can grow in almost any sort of soil, but the bulb lift will be bigger if your soil is richer.

Slugs are a common problem. They love tulips and if you find you have lots of foliage but no flowers the most likely cause is slugs. Invest in some good slug repellent.

The stem should be snipped or the blooms should be deadheaded after tulips have flowered, at the end of the season. But you should let the leaves die naturally. The bulb, at this time, absorbs nutrients it requires for growth the following year. After discoloration, you can remove the foliage to prevent ‘tulip fire’, which poisons the soil.

Tulip - Fringed - Mixed

These Tulips have petals which are topped with fringes that look like the frayed edge of piece of satin fabric. The flowers are so elegant and quite long-lasting.