"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...
GH wrote:
I am looking for some hardy tulip bulbs. Can anyone recommend some
from personal experience?

Thank you

Go for the species, every time. They're heart-lifting. IME you need to
lighten heavy soil, but that's not difficult; and they want lots of
sunlight. In wetter areas, especially on clay, having the bed slightly
raised makes an enormous difference. Saxatilis, to name one, thrived and
multiplied even in wet west Wales for me. Just buy the ones you like the
look of. Even though they are species, you still get quite a lot of
variation, so if you get interested in them it's always worthwhile
buying bulbs of the same species from different suppliers. One nursery
is Broadleigh: see
http://www.broadleighbulbs.co.uk/misc/tuliporder.htm

I didn't think I liked tulips much till I discovered the species. Go for
it! (And come back here and brag insufferably if you get our native _T.
sylvestris_ to flower reliably!)

--
Mike.

My advice would be go for the cheapest, they tend to bulk up the best and
indeed I have several times tried to eradicate Appledorn Red from the fruit
cage but it always comes back from bulblets I miss!

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)