The following is a list of tulip species and cultivars which have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[1] They are bulbous perennials, originally from sunny, open habitats in Europe and Asia. Thousands of cultivars are available in a huge range of sizes, shapes and colours (other than pure blue). They are usually sold as bulbs to be planted in autumn and winter for flowering in mid- to late spring. They are frequently treated as bedding plants, accompanied by other seasonal favourites such as wallflowers and forget-me-nots, flowering for one season before being discarded. However, in favoured locations they can be left in the ground to re-appear the following and subsequent years. Like many other bulbous plants they require a hot, dry dormant period in the summer.[2]
Groups
Tulips are divided into 15 distinct groups:-
- Single early - cup-shaped flowers to 7 cm (3 in) in diameter, often margined with contrasting colour; early to mid-spring
- Double early - fully double bowl-shaped flowers to 8 cm (3 in) in diameter, often margined with contrasting colour; mid-spring
- Triumph - single flowers to 6 cm (2 in) in diameter; mid- to late spring
- Darwin hybrid - single flowers to 7 cm (3 in) in diameter; mid- to late spring
- Single late - cup-shaped flowers to 7 cm (3 in) in diameter, includes the old cottage and Darwin groups; late spring
- Lily-flowered - long, narrow blooms with flared, pointed petals; late spring
- Fringed - edges of petals are fringed with a different colour; late spring
- Viridiflora - flowers striped with green, or entirely green; late spring
- Rembrandt - "broken" colours (striped or feathered) caused by a virus; late spring
- Parrot - unevenly striped with irregularly cut edges; late spring
- Double late - peony-shaped fully double flowers; late spring
- Kaufmanniana - T. kaufmanniana and its hybrids, multi-coloured; early to mid-spring
- Fosteriana - T. fosteriana and its hybrids; mid-spring
- Greigii - T. greigii and its hybrids; early to mid-spring
- Miscellaneous - all species and hybrids not included elsewhere; the smaller species require sharp drainage and are best grown in an alpine garden
Listing
References