Did I already tell you that I like tulips?
Last autumn I planted an embarrassing number of tulip bulbs. In 17th century tulip mania terms I am now a billionaire. They are in the vegetable and fruit plots, so I can unashamedly cut them for the house and to give to friends. When the foliage is dying back I will grow beans or pumpkins above them.
I only planted Purple Prince and a species tulip (Tulipa humilis ‘Little Beauty’) in the front garden because I do already have many tulips growing in my other flower beds, and with a few exceptions, they have come up year after year. Some were planted more than 10 years ago and I do know tulips that were planted 30 years ago! I expect the ones that I planted for cutting to do the same, and if you follow my three step guide below, I am quite sure that you will be able to enjoy them year after year too.
- 1. Now (April): Decide where you want to grow what colour tulips in your garden
You’ll be planting them in the autumn but in the autumn it may not be easy to recall what the best place is. Tulips like sun, but again, in the autumn places that are sunny now may be shaded by bushes that you prune in winter. So take some pictures of your garden now. Put arrows on the pictures where the dedicated spot is and make a note of the colours you prefer.
Online catalogues start to sell them from July. Failing that, you can of course buy them from your favourite garden centre in the autumn.
- 2. Autumn: Plant the bulbs at least a spade deep with some compost in soil that isn’t waterlogged in winter
The tulips that failed in my garden were planted in soil that was either completely waterlogged in winter or they were planted too shallow. They also like some compost or sand below them. So dig a hole a foot deep or at least deeper than your spade. I know it feels a bit like you are digging for Australia, but believe me, it’s going to pay off! (Cambridgeshire) clay isn’t a problem, as after all, what soil do you think there is in the Keukenhof?
- 3. Year 1 & 2: Don’t expect a terrific display and most importantly, don’t dig them up!
So having planted your tulips very deep, they look a bit short and stumped in the first year. You have obviously planted them deeper than they were in the fields and they struggle with that, but you haven’t planted them for just this year, so just let them be.
The second year you may only get half or less of the ones you had and quite a few blind ones. What I think happens, is that the bulbs you bought were at the end of their lives. They are now producing new babies and the babies just need a year to become so big as to flower. I haven’t scientifically researched this, but it’s a hypothesis made after several observations. If they like the spot, they will naturalise, but you have to allow them the time to do so.
In the coming years they may still every now and again have a year where you have less and you will have years where you have more. On the allotments in the village there are tulips that were planted thirty years ago, so obviously if you do it right, you and others will enjoy them for decades to come!
If you want to see more species tulips, then do visit the Cambridge Botanical Gardens in spring. They are involved in research trying to protect wild species: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/wild-tulips-under-threat/
Sarah Raven has written a great article on the history of the tulip: https://www.sarahraven.com/articles/the-history-of-the-tulip