It’s time for my annual review of the tulips I’ve planted this year. The top performers and the also rans. Plus the combinations I think worked, and those tulips which on paper looked good but in reality should never be repeated!
It’s been a bit of a bumpy year on the tulip front. With the dry winter, my bulbs got off to a slow start. I wasn’t sure I’d have any worth mentioning in this column. They looked a bit under-nourished and lack lustre. But then things suddenly stepped up a gear, and the tulips found their mojo.
Tulips Tres Chic 9/10
I like to frame the front door of our little cottage with containers purely planted up with white bulbs. This year I combined Muscari Siberian Tiger with Thalia Narcissus, and the Tulip Tres Chic.
Well, all I can say is “ooh la la” (I knew that French O-level would come in handy one day). The Tulip Tres Chic lives up to her name. She is a gorgeous, white, goblet-shaped tulip and at 40cm tall is just right for the containers. The petals are long and rather pointed, which I think makes them look rather elegant, like ballet dancers’ dresses or perhaps even fluttery ghosts.
I loved the combination in white containers in 2022. And I definitely missed not having the white Hyacinth Carnegie in pots out the front this year. But my tulip choice – Tres Chic – I think slightly has the edge over 2022’s white tulip, Swan Wings (which last year I gave a 7/10). Tres Chic certainly looks good for longer. Even when the tulip isn’t in bloom it’s shape is interesting. This meant it still contributed to the overall look in the container back in late March (see below).
Mmm then again I loved the fringe effect of Swan Wings’ petals last year. Gosh I’m torn, was I too mean to Swan Wings last year? What do you think?
Maybe I need an extra couple of containers out the front next year and I can have combinations of both! Ooh I like that thinking!
Tulips on their own and in combination
Sometimes a perfectly lovely tulip gets spoilt because you rather stupidly put in a pot with another variety and the combination just doesn’t work.
You can equally have another scenario where a rather ordinary looking tulip you’d probably give 5/10 to elevates another tulip to such a degree that you have to re-evaluate it.
I’ve had a couple of scenarios like that this year. Firstly the lovely tulip that I let down with my planting.
Princess Irene – 8/10
I planted the Tulip Princess Irene both on her own in a pot, and in combination with the Tulip Continental.
On her own she looked smashing even if I was expecting an orangey sunset bloom and got a hot pinky one instead.But there’s no denying she is a lovely tulip. She has flames of colour licking the sides of the petals and blue,green silver leaves all adding to her appeal.
However in the pot with Tulip Continental the display disappointed.
Tulip Continental was ok but the height difference was too great. Irene is 30cm in height and Continental is a good10 cm taller. It was just too big a difference to work. The whole thing looked a bit daft!
Tulip Continental -7/10
Based on this performance I would have given Continental a measly 5/10 at best. However he redeemed himself when partering Wyndham Tulip. The combination looked fab. Contintental has sleek large purply, maroon-black blooms on a dark stem. Wyndham in contrast has very odd, purply black and cream, ruffled petals in double blooms.
At 45cm tall, the height difference with Continental is just 5cm. This combined, with the way their petal colours complement each other, meant that I think they worked together rather nicely.
As you will see in the photo above, there was some unsightly blistering on the blooms. I’m not sure what caused this – it was confined to just this pot. I’m guessing this was a one off problem. Despite the blisters, as a combination I’d give them a 9/10.
This has forced me to reevaluate Continental. To use a Strictly Come Dancing analogy, he’s an Anton du Beke of the tulip kingdom. He’s an ok solo artist but he’s no show-stopper. Where he really shines is as a partner plant. He’s a good solid partner, when put in the right situation, but he can’t perform miracles if paired with the wrong tulip.
Wyndham Tulips – 7/10 possibly 8/10
If Continental is a solid partner plant, Wyndham definitely wants to be centre stage. And I did indeed love this tulip when combined with Continental. As already mentioned I’d score them together really highly. So much so that I’d certainly repeat that combination again.
Wyndham has a rich, sweet scent and she blooms in April and May. However, despite these benefits, to my eye a little bit of Wyndham goes a very long way. As tulips go she’s rather full on. I think having multiple containers of her would be rather distracting. I’d say if you are looking to make a statement, Wyndham is a real contender. But if you are having a mix of harmonious tulip colours say on a patio, she’s not the easiest team player.
Black Hero and Cairo Tulips 9/10
I had two pots of Black Hero combined with Cairo this year. Something told me the combination would work and boy, was I right. At the outset they looked deeply compatible. Both bloom in April and May and both are 45cm tall.
Cairo has lighlty fragranced blooms of the most deliciously orangey red. These worked beautifully with the dark double flowers of Black Hero. And when put in curvaceous terracotta pots and positioned near dark heucheras, well the effect was to my eyes stunning.
Some of the Black Heros didn’t quite grow as tall as they should have. I think this is because I didn’t water the pots during our dry winter. As a result the stunted tulips expended all their energy on creating the double blooms and ran out of steam on the stem front! But even so they all looked lovely.
I would definitely repeat this combination next year.
Amazing Parrot – 10/10
Of all the tulips I’ve planted this year, the biggest hit on my patio has been Amazing Parrot. It flowers in April and May and grows about 40cm tall. So far, so ordinary. But oh the blooms! Get your sunglasses on. They’re absolute firecrackers. Frothy, exuberant, this tulip has the zing of an exotic jungle creature. Hot pink, orange..it shouldn’t work but does.
I wouldn’t put this tulip in a pot with any other tulip. It doesn’t need it. It’s a solo performer with a megawatt personality.
However, that’s not to say it doesn’t work well with plants in other containers. In particular, I loved how the Amazing Parrot tulips have paired with an azalia in another pot which my lovely friend Ginny gave me, and the emerging acers, coming into leaf in the ‘red’ corner of my patio.
The overall colour combination of pots works really well.
Next year, if I remember, I’m going to plant up three pots of Amazing Parrot and dot them around this area of the patio.
Raised Bed of Tulips
In addition to pots, every year I plant up my raised tulip bed. It creates a wonderful statement at the bottom of the garden. Elevating a spot that is otherwise dominated by a bonfire corner and a scruffy compost heap!
I also use the raised bed as a source of flowers for the home during April and May. This is because, as part of my drive to more sustainable flowers. I want to grow my own vases of flowers rather than buy them.
This year I’ve gone for a more romantic combination – after last year’s rather hot reds and custardy yellows. And I’m pleased I did. My natural instinct is for softer, romantic blooms in this bed – especially if I’ve got hot oranges rocking their socks off on the patio!
As it’s a bed choc full of blooms, designed to combine rather than to stand alone, it’s difficult to say how these tulips would look in a pot individually on their own. You’ll have to use your imaginations for that. But I can say they have combined in the bed really beautifully. I shared on my instagram a video of the bed so that you can see the blooms ‘in action’. Do check it out below.
So what’s in this bed?
White Triumphator – 7/10
Tall (65cm) elegant and in bloom during April and May, this tulip with its crisp, white slightly pointy petals is the real workhorse of the bed this year.
Francoise -7/10
If anything, combined with the April flowering, softer shaped and shorter Francoise Tulip (40cm tall) above, I’ve maybe a bit too much white in the bed this year. I’d probably swap one of these out for something else if I had my time again. Then again the contrasting heights and bloom shapes do work well together.
Finola -10/10
At 45cm tall, blooming in April and May with stunning, large, romantic, peony type flowers, Finola is a huge hit in the bed. I particularly love the neck of this tulip, which with the gentle stripe of green is exquisite as it bends under the weight of the lovely flower.
I’ve grown Finola in pots before. Indeed she elevated a humble metal bucket to something stunning back in 2020 (below).
So if picture perfect, pale pink, soft blooms are your thing, I’d definitely grow her every year.
Vogue -9/10
Another lovely tulip with double flowers is Vogue. Her blooms are pink and white blushed. At 50cm tall, the blooms need a sturdy stem and Vogue has this. So you get a good strong display from April through May. I score her slightly down on Finola as I find her marginally less interesting to look at.
Paul Scherer – 8/10
All this pink and whiteness would look a bit much without a bit of contrast to harden the edges of the display. Paul Scherer delivered this in spades.
Blooming in April and May, this tulip is the darkest one in the bed. It’s deep plum almost black. I’m only giving it 8/10 as there are other dark tulips you could use in this setting. Black Hero as mentioned before for instance, might look lovely too. But that said, Paul Scherer has done exactly what I wanted it to do… added that important touch of contrast to the display to stop the whole effect becoming a soft, saccharine cliche.
Blue Aimable – 7/10
To complete this bed I wanted a tulip which would act as a bridge between the pinks and whites of Finola and Vogue, and the darness of Paul Scherer. Bleu Aimable does just that. She makes a good display with cup-shaped, blue-lilac flowers that have a bit of a magenta blush. She’s not quite as gorgeous as I hoped, but maybe I’m being picky!
So there you have it. This year’s tulips. And I have to say, although they all looked really unpromising when I was inspecting the emerging bulbs in February, they’ve not let me down.
This year’s display of tulips has been gorgeous. With all of them scoring 7/10 or more, I’ve been a very, very ‘blooming lucky’ gardener.
How have your tulips been? Any favourites you think I should try next year? Do share. xx
Louvre orange, amber glow, purple doll and orange marmalade – in their 2nd and 3rd years, still looking amazing.
Merlot – had this with slawa and acuminata in a pot this year – didn’t work but I loved them all and will use them separately in future – merlot in particular were stunning, very tall and intense colour, will be buying more.
Kings – lazy night mix – looked weird on the package photo but stunning in a pot!
One I didn’t buy for myself but wished I had was Wilkos Vendee Globe – these were stunning and will be buying them for myself this autumn after seeing them flower!
Wow Karen – thank you for supplying us all with some top tips here! Really love your suggestions – I’m going to check them all out.
Hello, lovely tulips indeed, but some were obviously mislabelled. Your tulip “Princess Irene” is actually Pretty Princess. On the first two pics the colour was enhanced, but the true colour is shown on the last photo of it. Your tulip “Black Hero” is most probably tulip Alison Bradley, which is an early double tulip, whereas tulip Black Hero is a late double tulip, actually one of the latest of tulip varieties to flower. Your “Cairo” looks more like tulip Jimmy or Annie Schilder to me. All three of these are Triumph tulips, they start flowering right after early single and early double tulips and your double “Black Hero” seemed to had opened even before the triumph tulip it is planted together with. But regardless, it certainly doesn’t look like Black Hero, a tulip you can not mix up with any other as it is so unique looking. Please google the images of these tulips and you’ll see. I order mine from Peter Nysen and Farmer Gracy and they never mislabel them. I also buy some in local stores and supermarkets such as Lidl, but about 40% of these come mislabelled, which sometimes is not a bad thing as you can get even prettier varieties than the ones you have bought. Definitely a great value. I feed mine with liquid seaweed fertiliser in mid-late February and after they’re finished blooming and they come back at least doubled, but also tripled and quadrupled the following season. In my experience they all are perennial if you plant them deep enough (ca 20 cm) and if you feed them. Hope this helps. All the best! Marina