10 minute read
BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL From borders to
BRIGHT Beautiful &
Discover the joyous charm and endless array of tulips to bring borders and pots to life
Perhaps the most uplifting of all garden flowers, tulips dazzle with their endless shapes, spectrum of colour and easy-going nature. Requiring very little attention, they reward tenfold every spring with a spectacular display that is guaranteed to lift mood and soul and inject energy and vibrancy into every inch of outside space.
Celebrated by designers, plant specialists, garden lovers and leading florists alike these flowering bulbs are highly prized for their organic twisting forms and clarity of colour. “We have been planting tulips for over three decades, each year more vibrant than the last,” says Marylyn Abbott, a renowned Australian garden designer based at West Green House Gardens in Hampshire. “Tulips rescue us from the doldrums and signify the end of a bleak, grey winter with their satin sheen and vibrant colour.”
HIGHLY PRIZED
Having been introduced to Europe towards the end of the 1590s from the Ottoman Empire, tulips quickly captured the attention of everyone from canny merchants and botanists to wealthy estate owners looking for the latest curiosity to demonstrate their status, fortune, and impress their peers. Admired largely for the colour intensity of their petals as well as their size and exotic character, tulips were unlike any other flower found in Europe at the time. They soon became a luxury item, with records of single tulip
LEFT An array of vibrant and richly coloured tulips in the walled Kitchen Garden at Hampton Court Castle in Herefordshire.
Walmer Castle and Gardens in Kent has a breathtaking display of tulips in pots and in borders throughout April and May.
ABOVE LEFT Support taller tulip varieties. Peony Plant Support, from £57, Harrod Horticultural ABOVE MIDDLE Also known as ‘Joker’s Hat’, this new addition to the tulip family peaks in mid to late spring. Tulip ‘Go Go Red’, £5.90 for five, Farmer Gracy ABOVE RIGHT The Lime Walk at Sissinghurst in Kent was designed and planted by Harold Nicolson to reach its peak during spring. bulbs being exchanged for acres of land. Demand dwindled gradually as it became clear these flowering bulbs could thrive happily in the cool, moist Northern European climate.
INFINITE VARIETY
Part of the magnetic appeal of tulips lies in the sheer breadth of colours and flower shapes available. With varieties to suit every personal style and preference, they provide endless inspiration and creative opportunities. Chris Ireland-Jones of Avon Bulbs says: “Some love simple flowers, but the breeding of tulips for cut flowers, in particular, has led to an everwidening selection of colours, colour mixes and flower shapes. One can now choose between ruffled petalled (or ‘parrot tulips’), where the edges of the petals are frilled as though cut with pinking scissors; lily flowered, which have elegantly longer and flared petals forming a vase-like shape; and the traditional singleand double-petalled forms.”
Adding a burst of brilliant colour, tulips are a valuable tool for many leading garden designers. Often used for making striking contrasts in a planted bed or container, their impact is boosted by their large and simple flower shapes. From the deepest burgundy of ‘Queen of Night’ through to the clear, crisp tones of pink Tulip ‘Carola’ and pure white ‘Catherina’, the striking blooms provide bursts of colour against green foliage. Many varieties have two or even tri-colour striped petals and some, including many historic tulips, have intriguing white-streaked markings.
Polly Nicholson, artisan florist and owner of Bayntun Flowers, is passionate about tulips. “Historic tulips have a colour saturation rarely seen in more modern cultivars,” she says. “Tulipa ‘Klopstock’, first registered in 1863, is a rich
bishop’s purple, and when it occasionally ‘breaks’ into stripes, the underlying white colour seems to shatter across the petals.”
This striking ‘flaming’ effect, where the main colour of a tulip’s petals are streaked with a second colour, stirred up plenty of intrigue in seventeenth-century Holland, and was caused by bulbs infected with ‘tulip-breaking virus’. Today’s tulips that feature this ‘broken’ petal pattern are the result of specialist breeding rather than viral infection.
Tulip bulbs were so highly prized in Holland during the 1630s that individual bulbs were changing hands for values greater than a skilled worker’s yearly income, and, in some cases, individual properties. This period spanning from 1634–1637 is often referred to as ‘Tulipmania’.
SEEKING INSPIRATION
Many revered English gardens boast strong historical ties with tulips and are worth exploring for colour palette ideas and the fascinating varieties, often with their own intriguing back story. Dyrham Park, near Bath, was built in the seventeenth century by William
Six easy-to-grow varieties
A few favourites with suggestions for pairings
TULIP ‘REMS FAVOURITE’
Works well with: Tulip ‘Negrita’ (snub-nosed, deep purple); Tulip ‘Purple Doll’ (pointed, ruffled petals)
TULIP ‘BLACK PARROT’
Works well with: Tulip ‘Showcase’ (violet purple, double, early); Tulip ‘Purple Dream’ (purple with yellow base, lily-flowering)
TULIP ‘MOUNT TACOMA’
Works well with: Tulip ‘Angelique’ (soft pink, double, late, peony-flowered; Tulip ‘Black Hero’ (deep burgundy, double, late)
TULIP ‘RED SHINE’
Works well with: Tulip ‘Ballerina’ (two-tone tangerine, lily-flowering); Tulip ‘West Point’ (yellow, lily-flowering)
TULIP ‘PINK IMPRESSION’
Works well with: Tulip ‘Doll’s Minuet’ (pink-red viridiflora); Tulip ‘Florosa’ (pink, cream, green viridiflora); Tulip ‘Don Quichotte’ (pink, triumph)
TULIP ‘FABIO’
Works well with: Tulip ‘Crystal Star’ (bright yellow glossy fringed petals, black base); Tulip ‘Red Wing’ (deep, glowing red fringed petals, late)
ABOVE The dark purple blooms of ‘Queen of the Night’. Late to flower, they sit beautifully in this design by Hendy Curzon Gardens. TOP RIGHT Often compared to peonies, double tulips have large, blowsy blooms that often last into early summer. ABOVE RIGHT Favourite tulips are depicted in Ottomanstyle on this 45th anniversary pot. Majestic Tulip Pot, from £69.50, Whichford Pottery Blathwayt, who was based in The Hague when he created the garden and was therefore heavily inspired by the Dutch gardens of the era. As a result, formal tulip displays featuring thousands of bulbs and four 104-metre-long borders play a significant role in the Dyrham Park garden to this day.
Other gardens to visit for tulip inspiration include Brodsworth Hall and Gardens in South Yorkshire, which has a magnificent collection of tulips dating from the nineteenth century and earlier, and the formal Victorian flower garden at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, with over 7,000 tulips in varieties that originated in the seventeenth century.
There are a handful of dedicated tulip nurseries and specialist growers: H W Hyde & Son was founded in Sussex in 1926 and the founder’s grandson Richard Hyde says: “No garden is complete without tulips. Some people like exotic-looking parrots, others prefer the traditional single types. Very few plants can match them for the sheer diversity of flowers. Picking favourites is not easy; we tend to judge them for garden performance, not just looks. ‘Spryng Break’ has huge flowers, very strong stems and the bulbs tend to come back every year, whilst ‘Light and Dreamy’ is a tall tulip which flowers for weeks and stands straight.”
GROWING MATTERS
Tulips are best planted from October until early December, after the first frosts. Easy to grow, they flower reliably the first year but can dwindle in subsequent years if not planted deep enough. Look for plump, firm bulbs and plant them in a sunny or partially shady spot. Ensure the soil is free draining, add a little grit if needed, and plant individually or in trenches at a depth of at least 8cm.
As with most flowering bulbs, these beautiful blooms thrive in containers. Whichford Pottery founder Jim Keeling says: “A major advantage of
growing bulbs in pots is the ability it gives you to move them around – bringing them to a prominent position as they peak and moving them away when they start to go brown and flop. Plant them in pots from early autumn, using a good peat-free multi-purpose compost. We always cram in as many bulbs as possible and often layer them with other spring bulbs, like narcissi and crocus.” Known as a ‘bulb lasagne’ this approach ensures one container provides a season of interest.
HARMONIOUS HUES
Passionate about growing flowers for cutting, plantswoman and author Sarah Raven has dedicated many years to sourcing and trialling tulips. “A favourite colour collection of mine is based on the idea of a blood orange,” she says. “The orange coming from Tulip ‘Arjuna’ and the marvellous Tulip ‘Request’, which is softly scented of freesia. Then I add a pool of contrast from a densely coloured crimson tulip such as ‘Havran’ or one called ‘Sarah Raven’ that a Dutch friend developed last year, knowing that I would love it. I’d seen the first two growing close together in a friend’s garden last spring, and thought they worked well, then added the third to accentuate the contrast. The trio make a beautiful mix growing at the front of a sunny border or pot.”
Tulips have an unbeatable charm throughout their flowering life, from the first glimpse of colour through
ABOVE Jewels of the cutting garden, tulips come in a dazzling array of flower shapes, colours and sizes. Stepover apple trees and a pair of delicate trellis arches add structure to this flower patch. Elegance round garden arches, £314 each, Agriframes
to their softly fading and falling petals. “I adore every stage of a tulip’s life, even the butterfly moment before they gently disintegrate,” says flower grower and florist Claire Sutton of Fig and Fern Flowers in Lincolnshire.
When it comes to picking tulips to display indoors, Jo Munson of specialist growers Smith & Munson says: “Tulips are the only cut flower to keep on growing in the vase. They look fabulous when they do their own thing, bending and twisting towards the light. Always cut flowers from your garden early in the morning diagonally with a sharp knife or a pair of Japanese flower scissors for a nice clean cut. This increases the stem’s surface area and allows for more water uptake. Always use a clean vase and remove any leaves below the water line as bacteria shortens the vase life.”
Flowering in April and short in stature at just 30cm high, rich claret Tulip ‘Palmyra’ is perfect for pots and exposed positions and is a favourite of Cel Robertson, owner of Forever Green Flower Company, who says: “For the longest vase life, cut these stems as the colour is flushing across the outer petals and the top of the flower bud is just beginning to open.” n
LEFT Rich claret Tulip ‘Palmyra’ is perfect for pots and exposed positions, flowers in April and 30cm high. Tulip ‘Palmyra’, £6.99 for 12 bulbs, Cottage Garden Seeds ABOVE This mix of fringed mauve Tulip ‘Cummins’ and deep plum Tulip ‘Gorilla’ is distinctly dramatic. Tulip ‘Black Cherry Frost’ mix, £9.99 for 16 bulbs, Thompson & Morgan BELOW In this arrangement by Fig and Fern Flowers Tulip ‘Brown Sugar’ is a brilliant bedfellow to ‘La Belle Epoque’ and ‘Rems Favourite’.
PHOTOGRAPHS P120 © ALEX RAMSAY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO. P122 © ENGLISH HERITAGE; © HARROD HORTICULTURAL; © FARMER GRACY. FEATURE JILL MORGAN P123 © NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/ANDREW BUTLER; © IBULB. P124 © HC GARDENS 5; © IBULB; © WHICHFORD POTTERY. P125 © ZINNIA DESIGN. P126 © FOREVER GREEN FLOWER COMPANY; © THOMPSON & MORGAN; © FIG AND FERN FLOWERS.
