The tulip is the most famous flower bulb in the world. But why is it actually so popular? That’s because she’s easy to plant and shows lots of great colors and shapes. A real good mood maker!
Do you like tulips and want everything to look colorful and cheerful in spring? Then you can read here the five steps you should follow when planting flower bulbs. They should urgently be in the ground before the first frost.
1.Tulips are born Dutch
The Netherlands is the center of tulip bulb production. This small country exports almost 2.5 billion specimens every year.
2.Yellow is the most popular tulip color
The 2.5 billion tulip bulbs include 8,000 different varieties. Incomprehensible! However, 40 percent of the production consists of only 23 varieties.
The yellow ‘Strong Gold’ tulip is by far the most popular. The red and white tulip ‘Leen van der Mark’ follows in second place
3.A tulip is worth a whole house
At the beginning of the 17th century, “tulip fever” broke out. Tulip bulbs attained an extremely high value within a very short time. They were traded on paper for enormous amounts, while the bulb was often still in the ground at the time of sale. A single tulip bulb of a certain variety was worth as much as an entire canal house in Amsterdam at the time!
4.There are black tulips…
…Not. Tulips come in almost every color of the rainbow: yellow, green, red, orange, violet, pink and multicolored. There are no only blue and black tulips. Some strains appear almost black, but are actually a dark purple hue. The ‘Queen of Night’ tulip is the darkest, but it’s not really black either.
5.peer pressure
Did you know that tulips can be divided into 15 different groups? This makes orientation a little easier: They are sorted based on their flowering time and flower shape. For example, there are single, double, fringed, lily, botanical and parrot tulips, as well as early and late flowering tulips.
6.Tulips are romantics
Well, at least they reliably ensure spring fever! After the dark and cold winter months, this flower will bring long-awaited happiness to the streets and gardens from March.
7.Tulips are noble
Because although there is already a huge selection, new varieties are still being refined. This means crossing tulips with very good qualities in order to obtain new cultivars. And suddenly a new color or shape is discovered, maybe even the coveted black tulip…?
That also takes time: on average, it takes 20 years until a new tulip is available in the garden center.
8.Multiplication by itself
There are tulips that bloom and even multiply every year, so-called botanical tulips. They are also known as dwarf tulips because they remain small and delicate in comparison. The most famous botanical tulips are Sylvestris, Tarda and Turkestanica.
9.Layer tulips lasagna style
If you do it cleverly, you can enjoy tulips in the garden for months: from the beginning of March to the end of May. All you have to do is plant tulips with different flowering times. You can also plant them in layers, this is called ‘lasagna planting’.
Once the tulips have faded at the end of May, perennials and annuals take over flowering in the flower bed.
10.Proper pot size is math
Of course, tulips grow not only in the flower bed in the garden, but also in pots. However, the pot must be large enough: at least six times the height of the bulb. In this way, there is a layer of soil three bulbs high below and above the tulip bulbs. A water drain is absolutely necessary to prevent waterlogging.
