Mary370, If your soil is really heavy and doesn't drain well it isn't really suitable for tulips, they don't like the wet around the bulbs. Although my soil is free-draining I always put a handful of sharp grit under each bulb to make sure the roots don't rot if we have persistent rainfall (as over winter ) You could always grow tulips in large containers and locate them throughout your garden where you have Springtime gaps.
A gardener's work is never at an end - (John Evelyn 1620-1706)
There's a clump of bright red tulips in my parents' garden that's older than I am. No-one remembers the variety but they have distinct black and yellow centres so I think they could be Fosteriana "Red Emperor".
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Hi @Mary370. My soil is heavy, brick clay. It needs a huge amount of horse manure, leaf mould and grit to make it workable. The bed the tulips are in was newly made, and the soil was improved but is still not great. There was a lot of grit added in the tulip bits and they are deeply planted. My point is that they must be tough tulips to return each year. Other varieties l tried withered away after 3 years. Queen of the Night, Ballerina which l love, and planted deep too didn't make it long term. I rarely bother with tulips anymore as although l love them, even in pots, they don't survive the dog and her love of chasing the pigeons or squirrels.
Thank you all for so many great recommendations... I'll check them all out! I do have rather clay-ey soil, so I'm definitely going to add grit to the soil to aid drainage. X
My Queen of the Night didn't last very long, but they are in not very deep planters. I think feeding (for pots and containers) might help a lot. I seem to have little luck with tulips but have not risked planting them deep in clay/dense/soggy winter soil as I have lost lots from rot. It's just chucking money away if they will moulder away over the winter. I might try again.
I always just use a peat-free MPC for annual displays but if I experiment with a permanent tulip display (using Negrita/Apricot Beauty as per the Sarah Raven video I posted) I think I'll go with a gritty John Innes 2 mix.
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You could always grow tulips in large containers and locate them throughout your garden where you have Springtime gaps.
The bed the tulips are in was newly made, and the soil was improved but is still not great. There was a lot of grit added in the tulip bits and they are deeply planted.
My point is that they must be tough tulips to return each year. Other varieties l tried withered away after 3 years. Queen of the Night, Ballerina which l love, and planted deep too didn't make it long term. I rarely bother with tulips anymore as although l love them, even in pots, they don't survive the dog and her love of chasing the pigeons or squirrels.
https://youtu.be/kPTVn6lgKlQ?t=88
Would be rude to not at least give them a go and see how they do.
I always just use a peat-free MPC for annual displays but if I experiment with a permanent tulip display (using Negrita/Apricot Beauty as per the Sarah Raven video I posted) I think I'll go with a gritty John Innes 2 mix.