Tulip bulbs – never too late for tulips!

Dutch scene with windmills and tulips

There are so many varieties of tulip from which to choose
Image: Tulip Delightfully Dutch Mix from Thompson & Morgan

Think it’s too late to plant tulip bulbs? Fear not. The best time to plant these enduringly popular spring bulbs begins in October. At Thompson & Morgan, we’re always on the lookout for special and unique plants. So which tulips do we love the most?

Here are our top tulip picks, along with other favourites to grow for scent, colour, size and indoor vases…

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Tulip ‘Cupcakes’ christened online

Tulip ‘Cupcakes’ christened online

Tweeter names world exclusive collection

Tulip ‘Cupcakes’ christened online

Tulip ‘Cupcakes’

A chance arrangement of tulips has led to the launch of an exclusive new mix by the UK’s most successful horticultural mail order company.

When Sarah King, one of Thompson & Morgan’s designers and a keen amateur photographer, was asked to take some photos of a new range of tulips for one of Thompson & Morgan’s catalogues, she was only too pleased to oblige. Having taken some pictures of each of the new varieties, she scooped them up and put them in a vase on the company’s reception desk.

‘I literally ‘plonked’ them in a vase’, says Sarah, ‘I didn’t want them to go to waste. They are so unusual and with their light fragrance, I thought they would make a perfect arrangement for our reception area’.

The arrangement caught the eye of Michael Perry, T&M’s new product manager, who recognised the potential for a fabulous new tulip collection. ‘We were going to offer the tulips individually to our customers, but having seen how stunning they looked together, we felt that a collection of ALL the varieties would really appeal to gardeners’.

The next challenge was to find a name for the stunning peony-flowered tulip collection. A picture of the tulip arrangement that Sarah had inadvertently created was posted on Thompson & Morgan’s Facebook page. After a hugely positive response, T&M followers on both Twitter and Facebook were asked to come up with a name for the new and exclusive tulip mix. Martine Ellison-Smith tweeted in with the winning name – ‘Cupcakes’.

The new collection with its newly-chosen name will feature in Thompson & Morgan’s latest Autumn Catalogue which is due out in late July. Tulip ‘Cupcakes’ will be available to gardeners for delivery later this year, but customers are advised to order early as T&M expects demand to be high.

Summer’s over, what next? Michael Perry asks

Tulip Everlasting Mixture

Tulip Everlasting Mixture

I think it has happened.

When leaving the house today; the feeling of autumn seemed to have descended. Although bright and sunny, the temperature was cooler and there were misty windows. Darn, I’ll have to start wearing socks again!

So what do we do now summer’s ‘over’?

In terms of summer bedding, there’s no need to hurry, just enjoy it while it lasts, trimming and dead-heading here and there. You might want to clear some areas to make way for bulb plantings though…

Now’s the ideal time to plant a tapestry that will burst into life next spring- just at the point where you’ve forgotten you planted it! Think colour, think fragrance and think non-stop interest. Plant up a lasagne of bulbs such as tall tulips (‘Everlasting’ Mixture is great as it comes back year after year, each time as good as the last), sprinkled with the newest and best rainbow daffs (‘Rainbow Butterflies Mixed’, and in the foreground some of our newest and rare crocus cancellatus.

Primrose Primlet Berryblossom Mixed

Primrose Primlet Berryblossom Mixed

And, bedding isn’t just for summer – there are some fab winter and spring varieties you can try too! Save £££s by planning and buying now; the world really is your oyster. There’s as much to choose from as there is for summer! Pansies, primroses, polyanthus, wallflowers, double daisies, violas… the list goes on! A couple of my favourites are pansy ‘Frizzle Sizzle Yellow Blue Swirl’ and the lovely primrose ‘Berryblossom Mixed’.

And if you’ve wanted to try fruit for a bit, now’s the ideal time to give it a go! Strawberries planted in the autumn will actually give 50% more fruit than those planted in the same year. And <a href=”/fruit/fruit-trees”>fruit trees</a> are best planted as bareroot right now – so get out with your spade!

Follow me on twitter @gardening_greek keep up to date with all the latest plant developments!

See you for now,

Michael

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