If you’re waiting for the big red and yellow tulips in your garden to burst into bloom, you’re already behind. These are beautiful, early, rare species tulips, and they really are plants to fall in love with. Their dainty little flowers are less than half the size of a cultivated tulip, and have lovely, fat grey-green leaves. They appear a whole month before their more popular relatives, and I’d have them in my garden any day.
But it isn’t just the way these tulips look: they smell beautiful as well. Head over heels in love yet? Here’s how to care for them.
Hang back a little when you’re planting your bulbs in the autumn and wait until the frosts have come, thick and white in November before you plant your tulips. Planting before then risks a disease called fire blight, which sounds beautiful but is actually nasty and ruins the flowers. Plant the bulbs at least five inches deep in free-draining soil, and protect them from cheeky squirrels. And once the flowers have faded, feed up the bulbs for next year.
Vital stats:
Location:
Free-draining, humus-rich soil in a sheltered spot
Light:
Full sun, sheltered
When to plant:
November
What can I expect from this plant?
Height: 30cm
Spread: 15cm
Flowers: March
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