Planning Tulip Beds for Longer Blooming

The name Tulip is of Turkish origin, and means turban. During the 17th Century in Holland, interest in the tulip plant developed into a craze.

Individual Bulbs sold for fabulous prices, and many persons were financially ruined by wild speculation until the government was compelled to intervene. Today tulip cultivation in Holland is an important industry and millions of bulbs are exported annually. In the spring when daffodils bloom, they have little competition, but tulips with their massive blooms and brilliant hues are equal to the task of holding the garden spotlight through the year's most colorful period.

The Gardener can be certain his colors will come out as he planned them, for if one secures good bulbs, they are remarkably dependable in their performance. Few of us are aware of the wide range in form, size, and season of bloom found among tulips. Some are fragrant and can vie with any rose for aromatic value.

Three of Four additional weeks of bloom can be enjoyed by adding early flowering types such as single and double earlies, and the triumphs to the usual cottage, darwins and breeders, the three best known types. The cottage, darwin, and breeder are usually given the color displays in most catalogues, since their five or six inch cup on a 36 inch stem is more impressive, but the smaller earlier tulips may be used effectively with groups of other flowers. Their many shapes and color designs, tapering, twisted petals will intrigue the flower arranger.

Hybrids Bloom before, or with the early daffodils, on short stems in gay colors. They are resistant to injury from storms or cold, need less plant food, and are ideal for planting among rocks. The single early tulips come next in time of flowering and are fragrant. The double earlies are similar to the single forms, but the flowers are much longer-lasting.

Triumphs and Mendels fill in the gap between single earlies and cottage, Darwin and breeders. Peony flowered are more accurately listed as double triumphs and bloom about the same time as the earlier darwins. Bulbs of these types should take you through four weeks of bloom until May, when the cottage, darwin, and breeder groups begin to bloom. Tulips should not be planted in mixtures, and will be better the first spring after planting than they will ever be again.

Long delayed home storage of bulbs is more dangerous than early planting, and bulbs may be planted as late as mid-December with perfectly good results. Bulbs should be planted five to six inches below the ground, measuring from the top of the bulb. Avoid quick acting fertilizers high in nitrogen for the spring feeding. If bulbs are to be left in the ground, mulch after the foliage has begun to ripen.

Only one tulip disease is likely to prove troublesome tulip fire. It may be treated by spraying with Bordeaux mixture. A precautionary measure is to plant bulbs in soil where tulips haven't been grown for three or four years. After the tulip foliage has matured, shallow rooted annuals such as snapdragons, ageratum or asters can be used to cover the bare space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip