Talking Tulips

Whether you like singles or doubles, striped, flushed or flecked, with fringed or lance-shaped petals, there’s a tulip variety to suit you, as Martyn Cox explains

- Martyn Cox

TULIPS are generally more expensive than other springflowering bulbs, but they’re well worth every extra penny because of their show-stopping flowers that appear in late spring. Yet the price of bulbs today is nothing compared to those that were offered for sale in the 17th century, during a period known as Tulipmania.

Ludicrous sums were paid for varieties with striped or streaked flowers. For example, a single bulb of red and white ‘Semper Augustus’ sold for 10,000 guilders in the Netherlands. This was equivalent to the annual salary of a skilled craftsman and equal to the asking price for a canal-side house in Amsterdam.

Fortunately, you don’t need such deep pockets to buy these bulbs today, whether you’re looking to add a splash of vibrant colour to beds and borders, or you want to raise them in containers, such as window boxes and patio pots. Another option is to create an eyecatching display by mixing them with spring bedding plants.

While most spring bulbs can be planted any time from late summer until early winter, late autumn into December is the best time to plant tulips – bulbs don’t form roots until the weather turns colder, and there’s less chance of them being hit by tulip fire – a fungal disease that disfigures the foliage and prevents buds from opening.

Native to parts of the Middle East and Central Asia, tulips are a massive tribe of bulbs that generally bloom between April and May, with individual blooms lasting up to two weeks. Work by plant breeders over the years has led to many dazzling varieties, with close to 1,000 different ones available to buy in the UK.

Great diversity