Tulips are notoriously short lived, especially the Triumph and Darwin hybrids, but what are called species tulips can be quite hardy, so if you can find them, try them!
Kaufmanniana tulips bloom very early. The flowers open wide, looking almost like water lilies. They're short and sweet, and make you feel like spring is really coming. The Scarlet Baby is 6" tall and blooms in very early spring. It's red with a yellow center; Hearts Delight is the same size and bloom time, but the flowers fade from red to pink to white.
Fosteriana tulips also bloom early, but not as early as the Kaufmannianas. Still, they have finished their maturing cycle around the time you're planting annuals, so you don't have yellow leaves amid the Ageratums. The Exotic Emperor is abou t15" tall with white flowers that have yellow and green on the outside petals; The purissima series – Flaming, straight purissima, and Yellow – bloom early –mid spring and look great together. These also look really nice planted with Grape Hyacinths (Muscari).
Some of my favorites are Tulipa gregii, which are varied in height from 8 – 16" but share the characteristic of having mottled or striped foliage. Red Riding Hood has red flowers, gorgeous darkly striped leaves and blooms in late spring. The Orange Toronto has (duh) orange flowers, 2-5 per stem, and blooms mid-spring.
Much later blooming are the Viridflora and Parrot tulips. Interplant them with perennials that are coming into full foliage in mid-late May, so you won't have yellowing leaves right at the focal point. Viridiflora vary from 12 -16" and green on the outer petals. The China Town and Esperanto varieties also have variegated foliage, with white stripes along the outside of the leaves. Spring Green has white flowers with the green outside, Golden Artist is yellow with green.
Parrot tulips have quite large flowers and they open almost flat in the sun. You'll find green in some of these as well, but more in the middle of the base. They are the latest bloomers. The flowers are fringed looking, with rough edges to the petals – a very exotic looking tulip, tall too, 18-20". Because the flowers are so large, you need to plant them where they'll be protected from strong winds. Green Wave is pink with green, while Apricot Parrot has apricot as the base color with green, darker rose, and white.
Lily Flowering Tulips are also very late blooming, tall, and beautifully shaped, with flowers that look like fancy champagne flutes. Wish I could draw them for you. The tops of the petals curve back out and have pointy ends. Very fancy. Wesr Point is a pure yellow; Marilyn is red and white, Ballerina is bright orange with some yellow at the base.
Tulips are especially delicious to squirrels and rabbits. Plant them very deep - at least 8". I've heard of people coating each bulb with a pepper solution, or planting them with moth balls. Some people put chicken wire around the bulb. Or you could stand outside all fall and yell at the squirrels . Or you could feed them - keep them fat and happy. If anyone has any great tips for keeping squirrels from tulip bulbs, I'd love to hear them.
Some specialty bulbs you'll enjoy are Galanthus, Scilla, Fritillaria, botanical Iris, and Erythronium.
Galanthus are among the first bulbs to bloom; Snowdrop is their common name. They're tiny, so you want to plant them in groups where you'll see them – on the front walk or on the way to the garage. I'm sure you could plant them in containers outside too, layering them with other larger bulbs.
Scilla are small, blue blooms that last quite a long time from early – mid spring. They're only 6" tall, and each one is tiny, so you need to plant them in masses - hundreds if possible. Plant them 3" or so deep, and about 15/square foot.
Botanical Iris have a shape similar to the ones you're familiar with, but they're smaller and earlier to bloom. I love Iris reticulata, little deep blue flowers that reassure me about the world. Iris danfordiae, which are yellow, bloom around the same time, and they're gorgeous planted together.
There are two kinds of Fritillaria I like. One is the F. imperialis, which are late bloomers, tall – 36" – and strange looking. They have leaves on top of the flowers, so it looks like the flower has hair. The blooms themselves are compound, little bell-shaped flowers that dangle from the mop top. They're also fussy. The Fritillaria meleagris, the ones in the picture here, are modest little souls, with white or purple bell-shaped flowers that appear singly, rather than in bunches, on much smaller, earlier-blooming plants. I have mine with some Iris reticulata, where they bloom early in April in Chicago, and please me very much.
Finally, there's Erythronium pagoda, the Trout Lily or Dog Tooth Violet. With wide, strong green foliage, these little lovelies flower on slender, but robust, stems which get about 10" tall. They look a lot like the native trout lilies that flower in the woods here and in Michigan, although the foliage isn't mottled like the natives. Put them under a tree you love, and you'll love them both even more.
OK, that's it for today. Next time I'll go on thinking out loud about gardens and sustainability. In the meantime, do visit my web site. If all goes well, I'll have some photos up soon of the garden I designed for a condo building in downtown Chicago that won a beautification award this summer. It's at view link
