Linda Jenkinson
When the air begins to get cooler, and the leaves start to fall from the trees, most people immediately think of storing the gardening supplies for the winter and getting ready to bundle up. But Wait! Before packing away your gardening equipment, don’t forget to pick up some tulip bulbs to plant in your garden. Fall is the perfect time for planting tulip bulbs.
Tulip bulbs are easily the most recognizable bulb flower in the world today. Most people think first of a tulip, when they are asked to name a flower bulb. Tulips are easy to grow, and require very little care, which is one of the reasons that they are so popular.
There is a very large variety in the color selection of tulip bulbs. The colors of tulips typically follow the color trends that are generally popular. Right now, pastel tulips are extremely popular color choices. The most popular tulip color has always been, and remains to be red. However, red is followed closely by yellow as the second most popular color.
There were ghosts that returned to earth to hear his phrases,
As he sat there reading, aloud, the great blue tabulae.
They were those from the wilderness of stars that had expected more.
There were those that returned to hear him read from the poem of life,
Of the pans above the stove, the pots on the table, the tulips among them.
They were those that would have wept to step barefoot into reality....
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
Of course, you can find tulips in a variety of color as there are over 3500 varieties of tulips. You can purchase traditional tulip bulbs as well as fancy bulbs, which have a feathered, frilly petal. You can find tulips in solid colors as well as striped petals, or variegated colors.
You can purchase tulip bulbs that are early bloomers, maturing early in the springtime, or you can find tulips that will bloom later. So you can plan your bulb flowers so that you will consistently have flower blooms all spring, until your perennials begin blooming. Tulips come in tall varieties as well as shorter varieties, this can be important when you are planning a garden design. As well, you will have a choice between single blooming tulips and double bloomers.
With so much variety and selection, it is no doubt why tulip bulbs are such popular flowers. Coupled with the excellent selection and the ease of care and planting for tulips, they make an excellent addition to any garden design. Tulips look wonderful in both formal garden designs as well as informal styles.
About the author:
Here tulips bloom as they are told;
Unkempt about those hedges blows
An English unofficial rose;
—Rupert Brooke (1887–1915)
Linda is author of the
Tulip Flower and Bulb Flowers section of
Gardening-Guides.com