Garden Ideas for Spring: Tulips
As spring inches closer I find myself longing for those balmy summer days and I forget that the joys of new colour and life lie only a few weeks around the corner.
While the south of the country romps through spring and into summer, up in Scotland we seem to enjoy an everlasting spring that trips into a late and brief summer. This makes it particularly important to plant plenty of early flowering bulbs in the garden to really maximise the splash of colour and lift the spirits as the plants come back to life.
Tulips are a great love of mine and I like to plant them in pots scattered near the house and in focal points around the garden such as by benches or at the end of a framed view. This means that you can position these vibrant soldiers of spring in the most visible places because let’s face it at this time of year it is still most important to be able to admire the garden from the within the warm confines of the house. Another plus is that it is also fairly easy to revamp the schemes as and when necessary.
Tulipa ‘Spring Green’ (left) has broad white slightly feathered petals with a green central band and adds a subtle elegance to any border. Planted in pots en-masse and this tulip will really brighten a lost corner of your garden. If you plant tulips in good quantities then there will also be enough for you to steal some to display inside which to my mind is real bonus.
Another truly beautiful white tulip is Tulipa ‘Swan Wings’ which has delicate fringed petals that look like they have been snipped with tiny pinking shears.
If you want to go bold then I would go for Tulipa ‘Weber’s Parrot’ (right) which with its blousy habit and contrasting pink and green makes a real splash or perhaps that old favourite Tulipa ‘Queen of the Night’ which cannot fail to add a sultry feel to any border.
There is so much scope within the tulip family that you cannot fail to find something tempting that will reward you with a riot of colour. Go for several that span different flowering periods and you’ll have flowers in the house and garden, bringing the spring to you in abundance.
If you want to plant summer bulbs for this year or get organised and start planning next year’s spring display a great place to source and buy them is Peter Nyssen who specialise in bulbs, as well as supplying other garden plants: www.peternyssen.com
