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Tulips. Is it just me?

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
in The potting shed
A tulip catalogue arrived the other day and it just left me cold. I didn't really fancy buying anything. The same at the garden centre.
There's no denying that some of the blooms are beautiful but you're lucky if they last a fortnight and, if the weather is against you, you might only get a couple of days out of them.
Then you're left with the ugly, messy leaves to either dispose if or leave them, getting in the way of other things you need to plant out.
I won't be tempted this year.
I'll stick to other bulbs.
In London. Keen but lazy.
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Posts

  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    I love tulips and find a tulip catalogue very exciting. We are all different, just like our plants and gardens. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    I always give in and have a couple of pots of tulips.
    SW Scotland
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I used to be the same, hogweed. Something happened this  year :/ 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ZeroZero1ZeroZero1 Posts: 577
    Discovered Dog tooth violet this year, if your looking for an alternative. Arrived yesterday, some varities self seed. Can't wait.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    I'll not be buying any this year. I went to all sorts of lengths last year to stop the assorted rodents from eating them, which did work. But the weather in Spring was so appalling, they grew weakly, flowered a bit half-heartedly and generally were lacklustre. My fault, not the tulips', of course, but even so, I'll give them a miss this year. If I find I am feeling very deprived in the spring, I may have another go next autumn.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    They're lovely 001.
    Raisingirl, mine were a disaster too. My lasagne were more dog's breakfast than gourmet
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • JemulaJemula Posts: 196
    We would have dull gardens if we all grew the same things. I confess - I am a tulipaholic and absolutely love them. To me they are the jewels of spring, but then I have very free draining soil ideal for tulips (but not so good for other favourite plants). I layer pots with plenty of tulips which flower at different times and with other bulbs and top up in the garden with new bulbs each year.  If you get different types there is a long flowering period overall and many flower for several years in the ground especially the species types, Darwins and Triumphs if you have free draining soil. I already have my order in with Peter Nyssen. As they can be planted so late there are also bargains to be had in the garden centres as they make way for Christmas. I find daffodils more difficult to place in my garden as the leaves tend to sprawl, take so long to die back, look very untidy and can swamp precious perennials trying to come through. I find tulip foliage is so much quicker to die back than daffodils and there is less of it. I do like daffodils but in my garden they need careful placing and are not always keen to flower again the following year. 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited September 2018
    The soil and climate in my last garden didn't suit tulips.  Planted over 300 one year and about 6 came up and then got blown to bits so I moved to short stemmed botanical types and they were OK but only in the sunniest, best drained bed.

    Tried a lasagna in a couple of pots but they were mostly frozen to a mush.

    I expect this new garden could be perfect for tulips but offerings in local shops and GCs are not exciting.  One day I may splurge and buy some thru a catalogue but not till I have some more beds dug out and copiously manured to enrich the soil which varies form clay for bricks to sand  or a more loamy mix where there were cattle but all rock hard thanks to this latest drought.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I love tulips, but I only grow them in pots. No mixed colours. They can have their moment in the sun [if it's there] and I accept they won't really come back - or maybe some will, which is a bonus. I just tuck them away after they're finished :) 
    The species ones are great, and I've planted quite a lot in my newest border which has bright, clashing colours. They're against the house wall, and protected from the worst of the weather. We haven't had such wet winters the two years they've been in  so they've been fine. The falls of snow, and the spells of severe frosts/ice  are  also fine for them, and they have other planting for support when it's windy. 
    I love narcissus too,  but I have plenty of other planting to hide the foliage. It's often still there in June, so it needs hidden well!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Fishy65Fishy65 Posts: 2,276
    You're not alone B3, tulips don't really attract me either. Mainly that as bulbs go, they seem to have too many potential problems. Like not planting before November because of tulip fire. Each to their own though. Variety, spice of life and all that  :)
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