My Top Five tulips to buy right now
The second in a special series for paid subscribers, featuring my favourite spring-flowering bulbs
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Following last week’s rundown of my favourite daffodils, one reader commented that he was astounded by the diversity within the daffodil family. He hadn’t realised that Narcissus bulbs came in quite so many colours, shapes and sizes. To that reader I say this: “Friend, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Though alliums seem to be very much on trend (look out for my picks next week), and unusual daffodils are making a comeback, tulips have got to be the spring-flowering bulb. Feathered or fluted, slender or full-bodied, elegant or exuberant, and available in every conceivable colour, the sheer quantity of cultivars is overwhelming.
Surely no-one would be foolish enough to attempt to select their top five…
In the face of this vast variety and range, many people – myself included – tend to pick up multipacks of four or five different types of tulip, pre-selected for their harmonious colour balance, relative heights and flowering periods. Do this, however, and you might miss out on some of the really special cultivars, like the ones below.