I am looking for some hardy tulip bulbs. Can anyone recommend some from
personal experience?

Thank you

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.

"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)

I am looking for some hardy tulip bulbs. Can anyone recommend some
from personal experience?

until recently I never realised that tulips were supposed to be un-hardy. In
my last garden (heavy, sodden clay in Cheshire) I just planted a load of
cheap "garden tulips" from B&Q (tall things in red and yellow). I never
bothered about getting them too deep (was heavily pregnant when I planted
them so struggled to bend) but did put a bit of sharp sand at the bottom of
each hole. Five years on I'd say that half of them were still coming up and
flowering each year.

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

The message
from "H Ryder" contains these words:

I am looking for some hardy tulip bulbs. Can anyone recommend some
from personal experience?

until recently I never realised that tulips were supposed to be un-hardy. In
my last garden (heavy, sodden clay in Cheshire) I just planted a load of
cheap "garden tulips" from B&Q (tall things in red and yellow). I never
bothered about getting them too deep (was heavily pregnant when I planted
them so struggled to bend) but did put a bit of sharp sand at the bottom of
each hole. Five years on I'd say that half of them were still coming up and
flowering each year.

You were lucky. Some hybrids are much more longlasting then others.

Hardy, or unhardy, usually refers to cold resistance.

It's not that they are un-hardy, but the hybrid varieties tend to
gradually fade away over years as you've noticed ( its just a matter of
how long it takes). AIUI they do it because the original bulb naturally
reproduces by forming small bulblets after flowering, most of which
don't get enough baking (in the UK) to ever reach flowering size. If
you dig them up after the leaves fade and let them get baked by sun
then replant, they do better, but most people don't bother.

The species are better at reproducing flowering-size bulbs without being
lifted, and also at self seeding .
Janet

On 7/2/06 11:17, in article , "Janet
Baraclough" wrote:
snip

It's not that they are un-hardy, but the hybrid varieties tend to
gradually fade away over years as you've noticed ( its just a matter of
how long it takes). AIUI they do it because the original bulb naturally
reproduces by forming small bulblets after flowering, most of which
don't get enough baking (in the UK) to ever reach flowering size. If
you dig them up after the leaves fade and let them get baked by sun
then replant, they do better, but most people don't bother.

The species are better at reproducing flowering-size bulbs without being
lifted, and also at self seeding .

We planted several hybrids two years ago which looked fantastic for a season
and then, last year, flowered much more patchily. I've decided that next
year, we're either going to have them around the place in bowls each year or
plunge bowls into various spots in the garden. I really do love tulips and
their wonderful range of colour but don't enjoy them half as much when you
get the odd one or two popping up where once there were a dozen or more!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

The message
from Sacha contains these words:


We planted several hybrids two years ago which looked fantastic for a season
and then, last year, flowered much more patchily. I've decided that next
year, we're either going to have them around the place in bowls each year or
plunge bowls into various spots in the garden. I really do love tulips and
their wonderful range of colour but don't enjoy them half as much when you
get the odd one or two popping up where once there were a dozen or more!

When I used to be buying daffodils in bulk ( an economy, since they
just keep increasing) I used to add a hundred or two tulips to the order
and plant them out in rows in the veg garden. One mad splurge of colour
and lots to cut for the house. Of all bulbs I think they are my
favourite as cut flowers. Some of the really huge fringed ones are
better cut in bud and brought indoors so that wind and rain don't damage
them.

Janet

On 7/2/06 14:53, in article , "Janet
Baraclough" wrote:

The message
from Sacha contains these words:


We planted several hybrids two years ago which looked fantastic for a season
and then, last year, flowered much more patchily. I've decided that next
year, we're either going to have them around the place in bowls each year or
plunge bowls into various spots in the garden. I really do love tulips and
their wonderful range of colour but don't enjoy them half as much when you
get the odd one or two popping up where once there were a dozen or more!

When I used to be buying daffodils in bulk ( an economy, since they
just keep increasing) I used to add a hundred or two tulips to the order
and plant them out in rows in the veg garden. One mad splurge of colour
and lots to cut for the house. Of all bulbs I think they are my
favourite as cut flowers. Some of the really huge fringed ones are
better cut in bud and brought indoors so that wind and rain don't damage
them.


I love those fringed ones. With tulips, all sense of restraint deserts me
and the more 'broken' or fringed or downright voluptuous they are, the
better I like them. But I also love the cool elegance of the lily shaped
varieties enormously. We had a big drift of those in white and they were
absolutely show-stopping.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

Thank you all for your posts! They are so interesting. It's my first
attempt with tulips and I really treasure your advice.

From your experience with tulips do you know any that would not need
digging up before the frost and can be left dormant in the garden? My
mother in law lives near Winchester. She is 75 and really loves tulips.
I saw the gorgeous tulips on that nursery site and I wanted to send her
some for Mother's Day.