bearsearch said:Here's an example of how well species tulips naturalize.

ID please?

tulipa praestans 'Unicum'

Thanks Brian. They're gorgeous.

Rita, if you order your bulbs by July 1 or whatever date you mentioned to get a discount, do they ship them at that time or can you ask for shipment at a later month? I think I've only ordered bulbs once or twice but don't recall ordering them in the summertime but they were from Breck's or Dutch Bulbs or one of the ones that have just filed bankruptcy. The last ones I purchased locally.

No, they just give you a discount for early ordering. Then they ship them at planting time. I have ordered bulbs from Brent and Beckies for the past two years and they shipped them in October just at the right time for planting here.

Brian, beautiful tulips!

I have always been happy with tulip orders received from VanEngelen.

Gotten nice Lily bulbs and daffs from them also over the years.

Thanks, this year they are ruined. We are about a month and a half a head of our usual spring and now we have freezing temperatures and snow. I took these pictures this morning and now these same tulips are covered in snow. You can see the frost damage on the flowers.




This is another variety I have but can't find the name right now, they may not even get to bloom at all.

Brian.

That stinks Brian, especially since you have such great plants. I'm having a different problem with the Greigii tulips. I don't have a wide variety but the rabbits seem to like these better than any other plants in the yard, well Heuchera as well. Last year it was only Little Red Riding Hood but I added a few more and that's what they go for. Has anyone else noticed this?

Rabbits eat just about everything in my garden. One year they even ate the yucca down to stubs. For some reason they don't eat my tulips though.

I am looking at Tulipa vvedenskyi Tangerine Beauty over at Scheepers possibly to order. They really look so pretty in their picture. I am a sucker for Triumph tulips and love the darwins too. But those Triumphs NEVER return for me, some return on the darwins. I am really looking now doing some research to find tulips to plant here this fall that will be returning year after year. Not that I still won't be planting those fancy triumph tulips but want some other kinds also. I am looking at some Greigii and Emperor tulips.

If smaller size is OK with you , you really can't go wrong with the species and their varieties. What they lack in size they make up for in colour as they return year after year after year with ever increasing numbers. They will even spread by seed if they like your garden. There is a species that I'm trying from seed this year, Tulipa sprengeri, that is one of the last tulips to bloom ( sometimes into June) and is also fairly tall.

gemini_sage said:My favorites for reliable return are the species. There are several forms of T.clusiana, and they're the showiest species I've grown. Brent&Becky's Bulbs and John Scheepers (VanEngelen) offer a good assortment of species, and Touch of Nature offers a few varieties (at excellent prices).

Of the hybrids, the Darwin Hybrids are about the best for perennializing.

Even among those that are better about returning from year to year, they perform best in a location where they can dry out during the summer. They resent moisture during their dormant time.

Clusiana don't even look like tulips to me. I really am a hybrid modern fancy tulip fan. But I am trying. I am trying to think of a place for those Tulips vvedenskyi Tangerine Beauty right now. And I have already ordered species tulip humilis violacea. Plus I have also decided on a fair amount of Greigii Tulips. I intend to order some Casa Grande. Oratorio, Pinocchio and Royal Splendour. I thought the Royal Splendour looked fantastic at the Scheepers pictures. Plus I have already ordered Greigii tulip Mothers Love from Brent&Beckies. All of these are a good start to my tulips that come back selection.

I also found Firespray tulips at Brecks. I bought the Firespray mix which are red ones, yellow ones and orange ones. They are multiflowering. If you look in the species section at Scheepers under the red Tulipa praestans fuselier, those would be the red firespray. I figgure Brecks just made up the name Firespray tulips. Why not? It sounds good. Certainly better than the Latin.

Then yesterday I started researching Kaufmanniana tulips but still don't know what I think of them.

Those will be so beautiful, Rita!

I am very familiar with Oratorio, with the wonderful foliage.

Mother's Love is beyond Gorgeous!!:hearts:

I saw Brent and Beckys has an old favorite, Hearts Delight this year. It was hard to find for awhile.

This one came back for me for at least 5 years in Massachusttes and looked wonderful underplanted with Chionodoxa, which bloomed at the same time.

Wish I could find the photos. Back then it was the cameras with film!

Digital makes picture taking (and staoring) so much easier.

I have a plan for the garden here which is to have lots of things flowering going from one to another. Spring bulbs are a big part of the plan and I am working on that the past three years especially. I want to get bulbs all around and thru my daylily beds. And I have a lot of daylilies. But even looking at spring bulbs as a group, they hardly all bloom at the same time. So I want spring bulb blooms in sucession too, not just all at once. Going to plant tons of crocus this fall, add more daffs (early and late as well as mid season), planting Chionodoxa, as well as Iris reticulata (for the first time ever) as well as more Dutch Iris. That brings me to the tulips and I am planning on massive amounts of tulips.

I planted a few 'Casa Grande' tulips (greggii) for 2 neighbors who have since moved... in both front yards, they are still returning and blooming each year, and they've had virtually no care for 7 years. They are also the absolutely biggest tulip bloom i've ever seen. I have them planted with 'Queen of the Night', nice combo, and both have been blooming for several years here. In general, I have good results with greggii tulips returning year after year, and of course with "species" also.

My big disappointment this year was 'Unicum', a little red tulip (T. praestens) with white-edged leaves. I planted 50 of them with 100 Muscari 'Ocean Magic', and I guess voles or something ate all but 1 bulb, and a bunny took a bite out of that bud. I'm not disappointed with the variety, just disappointed that I didn't get to see it!

I can totally understand how you feel, Jill and I sympathize!

Last year 250 tulips magically disappeared in a poof of "VOLES".

Guess they were sustained throughout the winter by my lovely tulips!

Sorry about your dratted voles!

Jill, that is really great to know about the untended greigii tulips returning for many years. Just what I am looking for. The large tulip Casa Grande sounds really interesting to me. I have been looking on the interent trying to find a better selection of greigii tulips than what Scheepers has. They are not that easy to find. I do want those ones I mentioned which I will get a Scheepers but am still looking for more varieties.

Thanks, Rita!

McClure and Zimmerman has a nice, but small selection of Greigiis.

Lovely 'Sweet Lady' is one that returned for me for many years up North.

They also have Kaufmanniana 'Hearts Delight'.