Tulip delights

OVER the years I have indulged in, and grown, a number of striking botanical tulips, for they persist and endure unlike their larger cousins which, after blooming break into four or five bulb segments each of which must be grown on for a similar number of years before flowering again.

The big attraction therefore is not so much their diminutive size and delightful colour combinations, but their sheer reliability. If they relish the soil in your garden (and they are not hard to satisfy) they will soon settle down and become almost indigenous, spreading in time to form large clumps needing neither lifting or replanting from one year to the next.

I would like to introduce you to three superb varieties, the first being Tulip ‘clusiana’ often referred to as the Lady Tulip, no doubt for its delicate appearance, slim stature, and pale complexion. My planting arrives with a very pale red and cream colouring but the true form is said to be more creamy and white.