I have just bought some Tulipa praetans Van Tubergen’s variety of botanical tulip bulbs. They should be just right for the sunny side of my rockery.

Gardeners Tips for Tulipa praestans

• They can be planted in a rockery which is where I intend to grow them as they should not exceed 12″ high.
• I intend to leave them in the ground for several years and not replant annually as I would with species tulips. Hopefully this will give them chance to multiply as they are recommended as perennial.
• I will scatter them on open ground then plant 3″ deep where they fall, aiming to space them every 3″ or so! I do not want them in formal straight lines
• These tulips will grow in most soils that are well drained.

Botanical Tulips

• Botanical tulips are those that are true to their wild state and have not been bred or hybridised to change their characteristics. My bulbs have not been collected from the wild however.
• Van Tubergen’s variety is a reliable species with clusters of bright red flowers in April.
• There are several other Tulipa praestans including ‘Fusilier’ bright orange-red and ‘Unicum’ which flowers orange-red with striking white variegated leaves, ‘Shogun’ with warm yellow relatively large flowers.
• Botanical tulips of which Tulipa praestans is one species are smaller in bulb size, height and flower size than your average Dutch tulips.