GARDENING
These easy spring bulbs will make pots, beds and borders shine, says Sally Pettit FOR THE LOVE OF TULIPS
PORTRAIT © JOE HIGHAM MAIN IMAGE © HOWARD RICE
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1 Keep on top of weeds now while they’re at the seedling stage. 2 Plant tender, summer-flowering gladioli and agapanthus bulbs. 3 Edge lawns with an edging iron or edging shears to make them look neat. It will also help prevent lawn weeds creeping into borders. TOP GARDENING TIPS FOR APRIL
Tulips grow best in light, free-draining soil, but you can have success in improved clay. Plant the bulbs in a warm, sunny position and protect from strong winds. If growing them in pots, feed once every couple of weeks when they’re growing and repot at least every two years. For the best display, plant cultivars annually. Lift them after flowering and store them somewhere dry, such as a shed, over summer for replanting next autumn. Many cultivars and hybrids are short- lived and more about flower power than longevity, exhausting themselves after a year or two. If you’re looking for reliable, perennial tulips, consider growing species tulips – such as Tulipa saxatilis , Tulipa biflora , Tulipa clusiana and Tulipa tarda . What is a species tulip? Today’s vast selection of tulip cultivars derives from around 100 wild tulip species from Europe and Asia. These species grow in rocky sites in full sun, and unlike the more familiar garden cultivars – which are best treated as annuals – the species tend to be perennial in habit and may continue flowering for years. Look out for yellow Tulipa sylvestris (good for naturalising in long grass) and May-flowering Tulipa
he sight of tulips in our gardens, in their myriad shapes and colours, is a clear sign that spring is on its way. In autumn,
garden centres are brimming with their neat little bulbs in colourful packaging, with alluring names such as ‘Queen of Night’, ‘Carnaval de Nice’ and ‘Abu Hassan’ promising brighter days to come. While their names may sound exotic, tulips are easy to grow given fertile, well-drained, gritty soil in full sun. Tulips are among the oldest cultivated plants, with more than 3,000 cultivars in 15 different groups classified by flower shape. Whether you prefer an orange lily-flowered form such as ‘Ballerina’, a flamboyant, parrot-flowered selection like ‘Flaming Parrot’ or a sleek, goblet-shaped triumph tulip such as smouldering purple ‘Negrita’, there’s bound to be one for you. Planting and growing tulips The best advice is to plant tulip bulbs at least three times the depth of the bulb – as late in the season as November, sometimes even into December in light soils. Planting late and in colder conditions helps reduce the risk of tulip fire, a fungal disease that can distort the leaves and flowers.
sprengeri , with its red blooms that look great naturalised in an informal border among perennials like Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii ‘Mediterranean spurge’. At the Botanic Garden, we have a National Collection of around 70 species tulips. Most are cultivated in pots of gritty compost and cared for in our alpine yard under a polythene canopy. As they begin to bloom from February to May, we display them in the Mountains House (above). They’re well worth a visit if you’re thinking of adding some to your own garden.
Sally Pettit is head of horticulture at Cambridge University Botanic Garden
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