The Most Colorful Tulips for Your Spring Garden
Who is the intended audience for your spring flower garden? If I were answering that question, I’d say it’s mostly me. Yet my garden is not only for me. It’s also for everyone who comes by and enjoys its beauty and abundance. So when I’m thinking about ordering flower bulbs for my spring bulb garden, I keep these other admirers in mind.
The spring bulbs that get me most excited are early jewels like snowdrops, crocus and chionodoxa, unusual varieties such as Delnashaugh daffodils and La Belle Epoch tulips, and experimental pairings such as tulips Toronto and Artist. But I know that these are not the crowd-pleasers. Most people who are just coming to after a cold and colorless winter are focused on one thing: color. The bolder the better.
So, if one of the reasons you plant spring bulbs is to dazzle your friends, neighbors, family members and passersby, don’t be subtle about it. Go for big and bright.
A Combination of Oxford and Oxford Elite Tulips
Choose Hot Colors for a Big Impact
If you want your spring garden to deliver a jolt of bright spring color, count on red, orange and yellow tulips. In the landscape, cool colors like purple and burgundy tend to recede, while warm colors like red and orange seem to come toward us. This optical illusion intensifies their impact. Learn more about using these colors here: How to Use Red in Your Flower Garden, How to Use Orange in Your Flower Garden.
In changeable spring weather, tulips in these radiant hues have another advantage. Dreary, grey days intensify their warmth. And when the sun is shining, they glow as if lit from within.
Plant Single Colors or Color Harmonies
Planting blocks of a single color is an easy way to grab attention. A combination of two or more colors that share a similar saturated hue can be equally effective. Another option is to choose a variety with two warm colors in a single flower. Read on for some inspiration.
Emperor tulips bloom in the early half of tulip season. They have big, goblet-shaped flowers on sturdy 12-15” stems. The blossoms open wide on sunny days. Choose red, orange or yellow — or combine all three.
Double Early Tulip Monsella
Monsella is a double early tulip with big, long-lasting flowers that can catch your eye from a block away. As the blossoms mature, they open wide and can be as much as 7″ across. Nice for cutting, too.
Banja Luka is a sturdy Darwin hybrid tulip with extra-large cups and excellent substance. The golden-yellow petals have fire engine red feathering.
This Darwin Hybrid tulip has plump, beautifully-shaped blossoms on 20″ stems. Ad Rem’s petals are a distinctive shade of red with just a hint of yellow at the edges.
This assortment includes both mid and late-season tulip varieties to ensure a full month of blooms. Varieties are Ad Rem, Blushing Apeldoorn, Prins Armin, Sky High Scarlet and La Courtine.
This blend includes three Darwin hybrids: Red Impression, Blushing Apeldoorn and Pink Impression. On paper the combination sounds a bit odd, but the pink moderates the heat of the other two colors. This photo is from our trial garden and it’s a favorite.
Tulips always look best in numbers, so plant them as generously as possible. To help make that happen, we offer Blushing Apeldoorn, Red Impression and the Sunset Mix at a special reduced price when you purchase them in 100 count bags.
Tulips make the world a happier place. Tuck some bulbs into the ground this fall and spread the joy!
Wow! Check out those Tulips! Hot colors indeed! Impressive….
They are so beautiful I wish you would send me some.
gjc240@yahoo.com
Hi George – There’s still time to plant tulips and we would be glad to send you some bulbs. Visit our website and order some! 🙂
how deep do I plant tulip bulbs that are through blooming?
Hi Russ – are you planting forced bulbs that were purchased in a pot and are now done blooming? If yes, it’s very unlikely those bulbs will bloom again. Planting forced bulbs works with daffodils and possibly with hyacinths, but not with tulips. They will not be able to regain the energy they need to re-bloom. Of course you can give it a try if you want. Plant them in very well-drained soil so the bottom of the bulbs sits about 5″ below the soil surface.