Tulips are loved and sought-after the world over for their elegance, vibrant colors, frilly petals and ability to naturally multiply in gardens. Also, if you’re growing tulips, you don’t necessarily need to devote much time to tulip care. Tulips need minimal care.
Now, this beautiful flower has a dramatic history to it. Originating as a wild flower in Central Asia and cultivated by the Turks, the tulips were passed into Europe by Ogier de Busbecq, the emissary of the Austrian emperor to Constantinople. Busbecq sent some tulip bulbs to his biologist friend Carolus Clusius of Vienna, through whom the tulips reached Netherlands in 1601. This was the kick-off to the insane "tulipmania" that ensued thereafter. Tulips became popular everywhere, especially in Holland. "Tulipmania" captivated the world in a wild frenzy to purchase tulips as a status symbol or sell it at higher prices. People sold houses, businesses, properties, farm animals, mortgaged homes, pawned jewels and traded land for just a single tulip bulb. Tulip bulbs cost $1200-$4600/bulb at the peak of "tulipmania" in 1634. In 1637, the economy crashed with the historical "tulip crash", when traders released all their stock in the market, thus forcing prices to collapse sharply. Today, one can purchase tulips at something as low as .25 -$1.15/bulb. The original tulips that grew in Turkey were the lily-flowering tulips, which had petals meeting at a point. But world's biggest producer of tulip bulbs, Holland, produced a variety that was multicolored and round-petaled. When this Dutch type reached Turkey, it raised yet another craze—the "tulip epoch". The Rembrandt/parrot tulips ruled Turkey at that time. Today, the species tulips (or wild tulips) are preferred more than the hybrids for some benefits. Firstly, small flowers and short stem of the species tulips enhance the look. Their flowers also have impressive color-range - lilac, orange, red, yellow, cream- and leaves range from bluish-green narrow types to banded broad types. Unlike hybrid tulips, species tulips can naturalize and multiply over a long period, growing new bulbs after every spring-bloom. These species or botanical tulips aren't crossbred and hence more natural and perennialize. Some hybrid tulips such as the Darwin hybrids in red, orange, yellow or bicolor perennialize too.
Tips for growing tulips: - Plant bulbs in well-drained soil to avoid bulb rots and fungal diseases.
- Water constantly post-planting but don’t allow water to stand.
- Sandy soil is best. In other soils, add sand, compost and low-nitrogen fertilizer like well-rotted cow manure.
- Plant tulip bulbs in October-November and fertilize in fall or spring.
- Plant bulbs deep, depth being 3x the length of the bulb.
- After spring flowering, deadhead the tulips, leaving the leaves to die naturally. This ensures stronger bulbs next season.
- Transplant bulbs if the plants show signs of over-crowding.
- Fresh cut tulips make excellent wedding flowers and look great in vases or small containers.
- Tulips are disease-resistant, but sometimes they catch the disease "tulip fire", in which growth is stunted. So gardeners must take proper care of tulips in order to grow the most healthy and stunning of tulips.
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