Time to plant your tulips (Tulips)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Tulips
Date:	04/10/06 (1617 review reads)
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Advantages: pretty

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The tulip does not as you may think originate from Holland, but probably from around the Crimea and around the black sea. The tulip is in fact the national flower of turkey and Iran. The tulip was first seen in Turkey by Europeans in1556. Tulips became luxury items. In 1593 a botanist at a Dutch university cultivated the bulb.
In the early 1600 bulbs of the tulip were cultivarerd and new colours and ones with coloured stripes developed theyvery sought after and expensive. By 1630 Holland had fields and fields of tulips The term tulip mania is used to describe this time which crashed in 1637.

Apparently during the second world war with food shortages the Dutch ate tulip bulb,s apparently they are bitter but were used to make a nourishing soup.

There are a variety of colours for tulips yellow the commonest then lots of reds and pinks; I personally like a deep true red myself. Now what about the black tulip?

In 1850 Alexander Dumas, the French author of "The Count of Monte Cristo," and "The Three Musketeers," wrote the black tulip" a romantic love story with murders and intrigue.

The true black tulip flower is sought by flower seekers and breeders but, there is no such thing as a true black flower there are tulips which do look very black, but they are really a very dark purple.

The tulip is a member of the lililacea family with 100+species it grows from a bulb. The tulip flowers upright supported on a cylindrical stem the leaves grow from the base they are thick glossy waxy strap like leaves the flowers have 6 petals forming a cup shape pointing upwards the petals are an oval shape.
The flower petals of a tulip are glossy and waxy .
As well as the standard simple cup shaped tulips you can get double petalled ones and ones with frilly edges to thier petals .

Tulips are a spring flower and flower between March and May depending on the species. The site of a mass of tulip flowers in the spring sunshine is heartening.
Patio pots full of tulips look spectacular too, they can also be grown in a window box.

If you want tulips in your garden next year then it is time to think about ordering some soon. Tulips are best planted in November.

Thompson Morgan has some purple tulips at £16.99p for 60 bulbs, 10 red ones for £5.99. http://www.grovelands.com/acatalog/Tulip_Bulbs_ has some Taylor's rockery tulips for 4.99 for 30 bulbs

Tulips like a rich loamy soil, they like a sunny position. Plant bulbs in a hole about 6 inches deep about 5 inches between each bulb, plant them with the pointed tip upwards. Water them a little after planting then only a little after that as they do not like over watering.
You can of course grow some in a pot force them for indoor display.
You should get a lovely spring display of flowers that you can cut for putting in a vase to bring spring into your house.
When the flowers are dying cut them of the plant and any yellow withered leaves but keep the green leaves. The bulb can be left in the soil for next year and it may produce a bulblet attached to the bulb and slowly increase the numbers of tulips in your garden. If you have any in a pot in the house either plant them immediately or dry the bulb of and store it till next autumn to plant.

Tulips can be cultivated by seeds but it is normal to propagate them by bulbs.

Spalding in Lincolnshire has many tulip fields and this is often known as South Holland. Spalding has an annual flower parade with floats of tulips in different designs in 2007 the theme will be planet earth; this parade certainly is a display of flower arrangements design.
This event takes place in April and was first done in 1958.
Thanks for reading I hope you have a good display of tulips this spring

Summary: A pretty flower grown from a bulb