How to Grow and Care for Tulips

Garden tulip (Tulipa gesneriana) is an ornamental bulbous plant native to southwest Asia. Ottomans brought it to Europe in the 16th century, and it almost instantly became popular, especially amongst Dutchmen. Garden tulip’s showy flowers are usually red or orange, but there are also varieties with purple, pink or yellow flowers.

Lady tulip (Tulipa clusiana) is a species of tulip that is native to the Middle East. It is often cultivated as an ornamental plant and has become naturalized in many European countries. In the mid-spring, it produces bi-colored blooms of creamy white and red. It has earned the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

Sprenger's tulip is a lovely tulip named after the German commercial gardener Carl Sprenger. While now extremely rare in the wild, sprenger's tulip is an award-winning ornamental species grown in the beds and borders of city and cottage gardens for its bright red, spring-blooming flowers. These flowers are of high quality when cut, making them popular for flower arrangements.

The dwarf tulip is a six-petaled member of the tulip family notable for its coloration, which differs enormously by variation, from pink with yellow centers (the first described by botanists) to white with blue centers. Dwarf tulip can be found at high altitudes approaching the snowline.

Tulipa saxatilis is a perennial herbaceous plant. The stems can reach a height of up to 25 cm. This Geophyte (Cryptophyte) forms bulbs as resting buds. The egg-shaped bulbs have a rough shell, are 2 to 3.5 cm long and 1.5 to 3 cm wide. The two to three leaves are up to 38 cm long and 4.5 cm wide, and are flat, narrow and lanceolate with a clear gloss upper surface.