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Species tulips – what’s special about
them and how to grow them in your
own garden
Find out why species tulips are great for both garden and pot culture
and many are easy to grow if their basic requirements are met.
27 April 2021
Tulips are an iconic spring �owering bulb, providing weeks of cheerful spring
colour in our gardens. They are also some of the oldest cultivated plants. The
blousey hybrids and cultivars we enjoy in our gardens today descend from wild
species tulips, whose native habitats are high up in the mountains of Europe and
Central Asia. These are now seriously threatened (read more), making the National
Collection of species tulips held here at the Garden all the more valuable for
research and conservation.
Our National Collection of species tulips, represents about 60 of the species that
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occur in the wild and is looked after by our Alpine and Woodland team.
Simon Wallis, Alpine and Woodland Assistant, tells us more about the collection,
explains why species tulips are great for both garden and pot culture and many are
easy to grow if their basic requirements are met.
Some of the species tulips in our National Collection
What’s special about species tulips?
There are around 78 species of tulips that �ower in a wide range colours from
March through to early May. Unlike hybrid tulips, species bulbs �ower every year
without any depletion in vigour. They have a simple beauty and are always
perfectly proportioned and come in a wide array of colours, height and �ower form.
For example you have the classic large red �owered tall Tulipa fosteriana to the
lilac-pink cup shaped Tulipa saxatilis with yellow central blotch and bright green
foliage.
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How are species tulips different to the ones we grow in our gardens and how are
they related?
Many of the tulips we grow in our gardens are hybrids which often have very
impressive large �owers in bold sets of colours. They normally �ower very well in
their �rst year but their vigour quickly reduces year on year. This means many are
almost grown as short-lived perennials and dug up and removed after one or two
years. Species will grow year on year often increasing in vigour and spreading
naturally once planted in the garden. Species tulips are often more perfectly
formed and look more natural. There are even some that are stoloniferous and are
great for naturalising in grass. These include yellow Tulipa sylvestris and the deep
red Tulipa sprengeri. Tulipa greigii from Kazakhstan with its purple blotched leaves
and large wide cupped �owers and Tulipa kaufmanniana from the Tein Shan
Mountains are both parents of many of the popular hybrids we see today in our
garden centres and markets.
Tulipa
What is the tulip’s native habitat like and what can we take from this when looking
after our own garden tulips in order for them to thrive?
The origin and centre of diversity for tulips is the Tien Shan Mountain range a
western outcrop of the Himalayas. The countries this range straddles includes
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Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China and Uzbekistan. Other hotspots where
many species are found include Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Crete. All these countries
have long, hot, very dry summers with cold winters when most of the rainfall
occurs. Not conditions we have here in East Anglia! All tulips escape these hostile
dry summers by dying back and storing all next year’s growth and energy in a
geophyte we call a bulb.
The best way we can replicate this if planting outside is to grow them in a sunny
place in well drained gritty soil. Try to plant them deep at least 20cm, this way you
will reduce the possibilities of Tulip Fire a nasty fungal disease. Also try to protect
them from strong prevailing winds to stop the taller �owered species from being
bashed around. A �nal warning Muntjac deer love eating the fresh foliage and
�owers.
What are your top tips to grow tulips successfully?
1 Good free draining soil.
2 Plant them in a sunny position e.g. SouthWest or South position.
3 Protect from strong windy locations.
4 If grown in pots feed regularly (once every couple of weeks) when in growth.
5 If grown in pots repot at least every two years.
6 Start with easy to grow species �rst such as T. saxatilis, T. bi�ora, T. clusiana, T.
tarda.
What can we do to encourage successional tulip �owering each year?
Many of the hybrids are not reliable – they are all about �ower power and exhaust
themselves out in year one. The Darwin series of tulip hybrids do �ower for several
years but the �owers can bleach out over a long period. The best answer for yearly
successional �owering is to grow species and not hybrids and cultivars. When
growing species in your garden if you don’t want seed, dead head the �owers so all
the energy can go into producing next year’s bulb.
What are your tips for growing tulips in pots?
1 Feed your plants often around every two week when in growth. Like us, Tulips
need a regular dinner.
2 Use a Loam based compost such as a John Innes mix add extra grit for good
drainage.
3 Repot at least every two years. When repotting we place our bulbs on a thin
layer of sharp sand to help reduce the risk of basal rot.
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4 Locate your pots in a sunny position.
5 Water on a regular basis – Tulips are thirsty plants.
6 They look best in terracotta pots.
7 Once the plants have died back, water the pots very infrequently and very
lightly. If the pots are plunged in sand, water the sand plunge only.
8 Many of the small species such as linifolia and Tulipa humilis ‘Aucheriana’ look
perfect in pots or troughs.
9 Place them somewhere in your garden where you can admire their beauty.
Simon Wallis with some of our National Collection of
Tulips in the Reserve Alpine Yard
Do you have a favourite and if so why?
My number one species is Tulipa montana (scroll above for picture) from the Alborz
Mountains in Northern Iran where it grows at altitudes of between 1200-2500
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metres. This is the quintessential red tulip. It’s a perfectly formed plant, growing
only to 10cm tall, its scarlet red �owers with a small black blotch and golden
yellow anthers open out on warm days. It has grey green leaves which are
normally undulating on the edges. It �owers in April.
You may also be interested in
Wild tulips under threat.
Despite the popularity of tulips, recent research reveals their wild ancestors will
lose their habitat due to climate change.
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Searching for wild tulips in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan
Despite their global popularity, wild tulips are threatened with extinction.
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National Collections range from species tulips and fritillaries to unusual shrubs
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