Common name: Tulip
Family: Liliaceae, Lily
Height x width: 6-36" x 6"
Growth rate: moderate to fast
Bulbs: white with
brown flaking outer scales, rounded with elongated top, generally
uniform and 1.5" across, but varies
(photo showing
range in size, Red Hunter on left, species on right)
Foliage: usually arising directly from the bulb, broad and 6-10" long, thick, glabrous and glaucous, ovate to lanceolate
Flowers: spring, many solid and mixed colors, erect and bell or saucer shaped with 6 perianth segments
Hardiness: perennial bulb usually grown as an annual for one year, zones 4-7
Soil: most, prefer heavy, well-drained
Light: sun
Pests and problems: botrytis gray mold most common, basal and stem rots, tulip break virus
Landscape habit, uses: massed in borders or used alone in formal beds, rock gardens, containers, forcing, cutting
Other interest: native to Turkey; name derived from Persian word toliban refering to inverted flower of some species which resembles a turban
Other culture: easily grown although susceptible to feeding by rodents and small animals unlike Narcissus; some cultivars listed as perennial, although most cultivars rapidly decline after the first year hence their treatment as an annual, planting new bulbs each fall 5-6" deep and 6-12" apart.
Propagation: bulblets formed from mother bulb, usually purchased from specialty bulb growers to gain maximum size bulb and so of flowers
Species:
Cultivars:
| Class, Group | Spring bloom | height | other |
| 1. Single Early | early-mid | 6-18" | solitary, white to purple, often marked |
| 2. Double Early | early-mid | 12-18" | solitary, white to yellow to red |
| 3. Triumph | mid | 18-24" | solitary, single, former Mendels |
| 4. Darwin Hybrids | mid | 24-36" | solitary, single, often with fosteriana parent |
| 5. Darwin, Cottage | late | 24-36" | solitary to bunched, cup to egg shaped |
| 6. Lily-flowered | mid-late | 18-24" | solitary, single, flower tips curve outward |
| 7. Fringed | late | 18-24" | solitary, single, fringed edges |
| 8. Viridiflora | late | 18-24" | solitary, single, green streaks or blotches |
| 9. Rembrandt | late | 18-24" | irregularly bicolored from virus |
| 10. Parrot | mid-late | 22-28" | deeply cut margins, often bicolors |
| 11. Double Late | late | 24-30" | peony flowered, solitary, large |
| 12. Kaufmanniana | early | 6-12" | straplike leaves like "waterlily", single |
| 13. Fosteriana | very early | 6-18" | single oval blooms, purple streaked foliage |
| 14. Greigii | early | 6-10" | multicolored, foliage streaked |
| 15. Miscellaneous | usually small species for rock gardens | ||
| Cultivars, species | Class | color | other |
| 'Abu Hassan' | 3 | red, yellow edge | |
| 'Alaska' | 6 | yellow | |
| 'Ambassador' | 3 | red | |
| 'Angel' | 8 | green, off white | |
| 'Angelique' | 11 | pink | |
| 'Anna Jose' | 3 | pink, yellow | |
| 'Apeldoorn' | 4 | red | |
| 'Apeldoorn Elite' | 4 | red | |
| 'Apricot Parrot' | 10 | orange | |
| 'Aristocrat' | 5 | pink to rose | |
| 'Artist' | 8 | green, deep rose | |
| 'Attila' | 3 | purple | |
| batalinii | 15 | pale orange | 12" tall |
| 'Beauty of Apeldoorn' | 4 | yellow | |
| 'Bellflower' | 7 | pink | |
| 'Bellona' | 1 | yellow | |
| 'Best Seller' | 3 | yellow to orange | |
| biflora | 15 | white, yellow, red, green | 4" tall, fragrant |
| 'Big Chief' | 4 | pink to rose | |
| 'Black Parrot' | 10 | purple | |
| 'Bleu Aimable' | 5 | lilac | |
| 'Blue Heron' | 7 | red violet | |
| 'Blue Parrot' | 10 | purple | |
| 'Bonanza' | 11 | red | |
| 'Brilliant Star' | 1 | red | |
| 'Broadway' | 3 | red, white | |
| 'Burgundy Lace' | 7 | claret, white fringe | |
| 'Cape Cod' | 14 | orange, yellow, red, black | |
| 'Carnival de Nice' | 11 | white | |
| clusiana | 15 | cream, red | 12" tall, Lady Tulip |
| 'Cheerleader' | 3 | red | |
| 'China Pink' | 6 | rose pink | |
| 'Christmas Marvel' | 1 | pink | |
| 'Clara Butt' | 5 | pink to rose | |
| 'Concerto' | 13 | white | |
| 'Corsage' | 14 | orange pink, yellow edge | |
| 'Couleur Cardinal' | 1 | red | |
| 'Dance' | 12 | red, white | |
| 'Diana' | 1 | white | |
| 'Don Quichotte' | 3 | pink | |
| 'Douglas Baader' | 3 | pink, white | |
| 'Dr. Plesman' | 1 | orange | |
| 'Dreaming Maid' | 3 | pink | |
| 'Dreamland' | 3 | pink, white | |
| 'Electra' | 2 | red | |
| 'Elegant Lady' | 11 | pink | |
| 'Elizabeth Arden' | 4 | orange | |
| 'Eros' | 11 | pink | |
| 'Estella Rijnveld' | 10 | red | |
| 'Fancy Frills' | 7 | pink, white fringe | |
| 'Fantasy' | 10 | pink | |
| 'Firebird' | 10 | red | |
| 'First Lady' | 3 | purple | |
| 'Flying Dutchman' | 5 | red | |
| 'Fritz Kreisler' | 12 | pale peach | |
| 'Fusilier' | 15 | red | bunching, from praestans |
| 'Gander's Rhapsody' | 3 | pink | |
| 'Garden Party | 3 | red | |
| 'General De Wet' | 1 | orange | |
| 'Gold Medal' | 11 | yellow | |
| 'Golden Age' | 5 | yellow | |
| 'Golden Artist' | 8 | green, yellow and red | |
| 'Golden Tango' | 14 | yellow | |
| 'Greenland' | 8 | green, pink | |
| 'Gudoshnik' | 4 | yellow | |
| 'Hibernia' | 3 | white | |
| 'Holland's Glory' | 4 | red | |
| 'Hummingbird' | 8 | green, yellow | |
| 'Ibis' | 1 | pink | |
| 'Indian Girl' | 3 | red brown, yellow | |
| 'Insurpassable' | 4 | lilac | |
| 'Jewel of Spring' | 4 | yellow | |
| 'Johann Strauss' | 12 | yellow, red | |
| 'Karel Diorman' | 10 | yellow | |
| 'Kees Nelis' | 3 | yellow to orange | |
| 'Keizerkroom' | 1 | yellow, red | |
| 'Lilac Perfection' | 10 | purple | |
| linifolia | 15 | red, black | 12" tall |
| 'Lucky Strike' | 3 | red | |
| 'Magier' | 5 | white, red violet | |
| 'Maja' | 7 | yellow | |
| 'Makassar' | 3 | yellow to orange | |
| 'Marilyn' | 11 | white | |
| 'Maytime' | 6 | violet | |
| 'May Wonder' | 11 | pink | |
| 'Mount Tacoma' | 11 | white | |
| 'Negrita' | 3 | purple | |
| 'New Design' | 3 | yellow, pink | |
| 'Orange Favorite' | 10 | orange | |
| 'Orange Nassau' | 2 | yellow-orange | |
| 'Orange Triumph' | 11 | orange | |
| 'Orange Wonder' | 3 | yellow to orange | |
| 'Oxford' | 4 | red | |
| 'Parade' | 4 | red | |
| 'Parrot Wonder' | 10 | red | |
| 'Paul Richter' | 3 | red | |
| 'Peach Blossom' | 2 | pink | |
| 'Peppermint Stick' | 15 | red, white | |
| 'Pimpernel' | 8 | green, claret | |
| 'Pink Emperor' | 13 | pink | |
| 'Pink Impression' | 4 | pink to rose | |
| 'Plaisir' | 14 | cream, red and yellow | |
| 'President Kennedy' | 4 | yellow | |
| 'Princess Irene' | 1 | orange | |
| 'Prominence' | 3 | red | |
| pulchella | 15 | red-violet | 8" tall |
| 'Purissima' | 13 | white | |
| 'Purple Star' | 3 | purple | |
| 'Queen of Bartigons' | 5 | pink to rose | |
| 'Queen of Night' | 5 | purple | |
| 'Queen of Sheba' | 6 | red | |
| 'Red Emperor' | 13 | red | |
| 'Red Riding Hood' | 14 | red, yellow and black | |
| 'Red Shine' | 6 | red | |
| 'Redwing' | 7 | red | |
| saxatilis | 15 | lilac, yellow-orange | Candia Tulip, 6-18" tall |
| 'Schoonoord' | 2 | white | |
| 'Scotch Lassie' | 5 | purple | |
| 'Shakespeare' | 12 | salmon, yellow and red | |
| 'Shirley' | 3 | white, magenta | |
| 'Sorbet' | 5 | white, red | |
| 'Sparkling Fire' | 14 | red | |
| 'Spring Green' | 8 | green, ivory | |
| 'Spring Song' | 4 | red | |
| 'Stresa' | 12 | orange, red | |
| 'Sweet Harmony' | 5 | yellow | |
| 'Sweet Lady' | 12 | orange pink | |
| sylvestris | 15 | yellow, green and red | 18" tall |
| tarda | 15 | cream, yellow | 4-11 star-shaped, 4" tall |
| 'Texas Gold' | 10 | yellow | |
| 'Toronto' | 14 | salmon, yellow, red, green | |
| turkestanica | 15 | white, yellow | 12" tall, similar to biflora |
| 'Uncle Tom' | 11 | red | |
| 'Unicum' | 15 | red | bunching, from praestans |
| 'Van Tubergen' | 15 | red | bunching, from praestans |
| 'Victor H. Ries' | 3 | purple | |
| 'Waterlily' | 12 | light yellow | |
| 'West Point' | 6 | yellow | |
| 'White Dream' | 3 | white | |
| 'White Emperor' | 13 | white | |
| 'White Swallow' | 11 | white | |
| 'White Triumphator' | 6 | white | |
| 'Yellow Dover' | 4 | yellow | |
| 'Yellow Empress' | 13 | yellow | |
| 'Yellow President' | 3 | yellow to orange | |
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