The Unknown World of Tulips: Types of Tulips Growing in your Garden

You may be purchasing the wrong tulips. Yes, you read it correctly. There is a whole world of tulips there, not all are kept for the same purpose. Whether you need a flashy rainbow of colour or a sturdy perennial ball, here are the types of tulips you will need to keep on your radar this fall.

Most people get tulips from Home Depot or Garden Center and make their appearance in the fall in the garden. In spring you will get a flashy display of bright tulips that smash with winter blues. We often expect work to be done, planted once and then returned.

So why isn’t your tulip coming back? Or, as the years went by, they were less impressive.

So, what if I told you there are many different types of tulips? Not all churipas are the same!

These large flower farms feature spectacular displays of tulips ranging in different shades and shapes. They are surged our expectations for our own gardens. But most of those growers buy new bulbs every year!

Yes, Silly, the perennial tulip world is not as dry as you might think. Today, I am breaking down many different types of tulips that will help you make the choice to buy the right bulb this fall.

I’ll cover this post…

The fascinating history of tulips

Tulips were a Dutch character, along with windmills and wooden clogs. But before they became popular in the Netherlands, tulips had humble origins as wild flowers in Central Asia, southern Russia, Turkey and Iran.

The wild tulips grew in small, warm red, orange and yellow colors. Flowers spread through the seeds through the wind and slow bulb divisions. People often and often did not frequently in the mountainous regions where these flowers grew, but traders and soldiers eventually carried the seeds to the courts of Turkey and Persian.

Tulips were grown in Persia as early as the 10th century. Today they remain the national symbol of Iran. They were called “Rails.” This is a word that shares the same letters as God’s name.

The first record of tulips in Western Europe comes from the journal of German botanist Conrad Jessner. He saw flowers in 1559 in the garden of a rare plant collector.

The French were the first in Europe to become wild for tulips. Tulips were once as expensive as gemstones. When the ladies dress in court, they secure them in a décolletage. The breeding industry began to grow, and Tulips found a home in formal gardens.

However, the political upheavals of the 18th century and the rise of Dutch breeders left the popularity of French tulips.

Netherlands and Tulip Mania

In the early 17th century, the Republic of the Netherlands was one of the richest countries in Europe. With so many wealthy people living in the Netherlands, the rich looked for ways to show off their wealth. Tulips have become a symbol of those wealthy people.

The tulip trend began slowly in the 16th century. After that, middle-class artisans and peasants were those who cared for, bought and sold the tulips. However, by the 1630s, tulip prices had risen rapidly, and the tulip market had become a place of wealth.

The rare tulip bulbs were the most popular, and the broken tulips were the most rare of all. In 1636, one Semper Augustus bulb took as much as a large house on the finest canals of Amsterdam. It was the rarest tulip flower, a swirling red and white broken tulip.

However, as rare bulbs became more common, the tulip market crashed. The supply of tulips was higher than demand.

While the tulip market crashed, tulip mania meant that Dutch people knew how to raise tulips. Tulips was also attracting global attention at this point, and the export industry has taken off. Today, Dutch still produce about 60% of tulip bulbs around the world.

Perennials and annual tulips

You could have been like me. At some point in my life, I thought all tulips were perennials. I planted them in my garden and they’re back for years to come.

However, not all tulips are intended to be perennials. Thanks to its popularity as cut flowers, some are grown in one season, producing one large, flashy flower that is cut into vases and displayed. For this reason, the annual tulips are perfect for masquerading and flashy displays.

Perennial tulips are intended to keep them out of the way by the ground. If you want them to come back, don’t cut the flowers! That applies to the leaves too. Even after the flowers are gone, the leaves will recharge their light bulbs and return to the next year.

There are also tulips designed for naturalization. Like perennials, they return each year, but they last longer. Under ideal conditions, they recreate on their own, and their numbers continue to increase.

15 types of tulips

There is an infinite number of tulips there. In the Netherlands alone, we export more than 8,000 varieties of tulips each year. With so many tulips, they are all sorted into 15 groups, making them easy to identify. These tulips are grouped based on flower shape and flowering period.

Here are 15 types of tulips that you can grow in your garden:

Single Early Tulip

One of the first tulips of the season, they often appear in April and produce a single layer of large round petals. It only reaches about 40 cm tall, making it ideal for containers.

Double early tulips

These tulips also bloom early in spring, but instead create large double flowers. If it is open, it can be over 10 cm wide, but it is not as high as the early tulips.

Triumph Tulips

Triumph Tulips is a hybrid of single early and single late tulips. They happen to be the largest group of tulips and can feature a considerable range of appearances and colors. Some may appear pointy, while others have rounded the flowers.

They begin to flower in medium springs and are known for their sturdy flower stems that reach heights of 40-50 cm. If protected from the cold after zone 7, many people choose them as containers. Most victory tulips can be perennial.

Darwin Hybrid Tulip

Darwin’s hybrid tulips produce classic egg-like tulip shapes before they open wide. They have strong stems and long-lasting flowers. If you want perennial tulips, the Darwin Hybrid is one of the best options and has been new for a few years. Make sure the leaves return to their natural state.

Single Late Tulip

This group includes many tulips. Typically, one late tulip blooms in May, with long, slender flowers on sturdy stems about 60 cm tall. The famous almost black tulip, “The Queen of the Night,” belongs to this group of tulips.

Lily-style tulips

As the name suggests, the petals of this tulip flower are pointed and create a clear lily shape. Lily-flowered Tulips grow on thin stems that can reach heights of 50-60 cm, and may require shelter from the wind. These tulips bloom in late spring and are perfect for the annual bedding garden. Many people recognize the popular “ballerina” variety from this group.

Fringe Tulip

Fringe tulip flowers, also known as Orchid Tulips or Crispa Tulips, are one of the more playful and unique types of tulips out there. The petals at the ends are serrated, giving them a noticeable fringe and a fluffy appearance. Sometimes fringes are a contrasting colour to other petals. These tulips bloom in mid- to late spring.

Viridiflora tulips

Initially, these tulips look almost completely green, as they are green when the outer petals are fresh. However, as they age, secondary colors show more and more. Once the flowers bloomed, the flowers lasted quite a long time and began to bloom in medium spring. It can be a perennial tulip in a height range of 20-50 cm.

Rembrandt

This name indicates that these types of tulips were often featured in paintings due to their unique marks when they were popular at the peak. They have white or yellow petals with stripes and markings in brown, red, bronze, red, pink, or purple. That’s why they are often called broken tulips (like the rare tulips of the 17th century!).

Historically, these markings are from tulip viruses and can destroy stems in the long term. Currently, these tulip offspring are virus-free, but retain a colorful pattern.

Parrot Tulip

Thanks to the mutation, parrot tulips have distinct colours and shapes. The petals are fringed, curled, cut and twisted into unique shapes. Many of them are also available in bi-colored colors. They bloom late and open to large saucer-like flowers. The height is 40-60 cm and must be protected from strong winds.

Double delay tulip

Also known as peanie-style tulips, these tulips may be mistaken for peonies if you don’t look closely. The double flower has large round petals, which are very large and lush. Double late tulips come in many colors, most are bi-colored. They are one of the best tulips in the cutting garden and look fantastic, planted in Mass.

Kaufmanniana Tulips

Kaufmanniana Tulips, also known as Waterlily Tulips, opens wide in the sun and resembles a sheer lily. They are in a variety of colours and often have contrasting centers. They grow compactly and grow on stems that are only 10-25 cm tall. This makes it a great option for rock gardens and containers, but below zone 7 you need to protect it from the cold. They are known as early breeding tulips and can become naturalized.

Fosteriana Tulips

Fosteriana Tulip flowers are not as popular in North America as they are in Europe, but if you can get some bulbs, they are worth looking for. They are one of the best bulbs for naturalization, if you’re looking for a perennial ball.

They bloom from early to mid-spring, with large flowers 25-40 cm tall on grey-green stems.

Greigii Tulips

Another reliable perennial tulip option is the Greigii Tulips. They are usually found in red, yellow or white with purple leaf leaves or stripes on their leaves. So they look interesting even after the flowers have finished blooming in spring.

tulips of seeds

Also known as plant tulips, these tulips are the closest relatives to the first collected tulips. They are much smaller than other tulips, ranging from 12-20 cm tall and have star-shaped flowers. They are the best tulips for naturalization and quickly cover the areas of the spring area. This makes it a great option for those who plant a Stinzen garden.

There are 65 tulips, each with their own unique fragrance and appearance. They are one of the first type of tulips.

FAQs about tulip flowers

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