Red-and-white Tulips

‘World Expression’, a truer red than the other, rosier types. You just can’t take a bad picture of this tulip. As it ages, the cream background turns white.

Each year I tend to have a theme in my fall bulb order.

Not in the whole order-it’s too big for that. But I indulge myself in trying new things in one area-I might order a lot of fritillaries one year, or all the dark-purple tulips I could find (one of them, purported to be plum, turned out flaming orange and scarlet, with fringes).

This year, it was red-and-white tulips. I couldn’t get every single one of them; there are so many kinds I couldn’t afford it. Or fit them all in my garden. (Though it’s interesting to imagine I could, and run the gamut from the beautiful graceful high-priced single bulb of ‘Zomerschoon’ to the blaring ‘Burning Heart’, which looks scarily big and garish in its picture-but you never know, it could be great in person.)

The trouble with these themes is that it’s pretty hard to limit myself to just one. I really wanted to order at least fifty ‘Dreaming Maid’ tulips (misty lilac, shading to a rosy-tinged white edge) to go with my pale ‘Apricot Beauties’ this spring. And of course, each year, there are more bulbs which I consider indispensable to my garden. So-where do I put them all? And what is a reasonable proportion of my income to spend on bulbs?

As I was saying. This year it was all red-and-white tulips. I got four kinds, from midseason to late types, in order to enjoy them longer. You might want to try a few for yourself. (Remember, if you want the best selection of spring bulbs, you need to order them in summer.)

‘Lady Jane’ tulips spread out in the daytime. I could (and probably will) do an entire post, or two, on this wonderful species-like tulip that comes back every year.

Tulip ‘Marilyn’, one of the lily-flowering late types, with pointed petals. Pointed petals were considered desirable in the Ottoman Empire, where tulips were first turned into garden plants in elaborate hybridization programs.

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‘Sorbet’, new to me this year, starts out creamy white with pale pink markings, and matures into this. A perfect match with ‘Marilyn’ in the background.

Next post: tulip parties