Heirloom Tulip Bulbs

With its almost savage beauty, this bright, dagger-petaled tulip was listed as a wild species in 19th-century catalogs. It’s never been found in the wild, though, and may be a survivor from the early 1700s when tulips much like it (and T. acuminata) ruled in the lavish gardens of the Ottoman Empire. Whatever its origins, it’s spectacular! Lily-flowered, 16”, zones 4a-7b(8bWC), from the Hortus Bulborum. Chart and care.

“Like raspberry-ripple ice cream,” says Anna Pavord in The Tulip, and “one of the best.” It’s also one of the most dramatic of modern parrots, with a whirling-dervish intensity that rivals that of much older parrots such as ‘Amiral de Constantinople’. Our founder Scott first grew ‘Estella’ 35 years ago, and he says “the outrageous beauty of its first blooms still blazes in my memory.” Aka ‘Gay Presto’, parrot, 18-20”, zones 3a-7b(8bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

This violet-scented wildflower has small, yellow, almond-shaped flowers that nod in bud and then open wide in the sun. Gerard pictured it in his great Herbal of 1597, Jefferson grew it at Monticello, and it’s naturalized almost like a weed throughout Pennsylvania Dutch country – and our garden. Aka T. florentina, 8-14”, zones 5a-8a(8bWC), from Holland. See our other unusually fragrant tulips. Chart, care, and learn more.

This award-winning classic gets rosier and more vibrant every day, and its thick petals make it long-lasting in bloom, so you get more beauty from every bulb. It looks especially good mingled with whites and purples – a tip from English garden maven Rosemary Verey. Triumph, 16-18”, zones 3a-7b(8bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

Richly fragrant and long-lived, ‘Generaal de Wet’ is a worthy scion of the legendary ‘Prince of Austria’. Although orange may not be traditional or expected in the spring garden, try a few bulbs of ‘De Wet’ and we think you’ll agree that its sunny, fresh, juicy tones look right at home there. Pair it with dark purple johnny-jump-ups outside and in a vase where you can enjoy its fragrance up close. Ahhhh! Single Early, 14”, zones 3a-7b(8bWC), from Holland. See our other unusually fragrant tulips. Chart, care, and learn more.

Did you see this knockout in The New York Times? Like a sunrise in slow motion, it opens with baby-smooth, pale yellow petals feathered with rose, and then day by day it transforms itself into a big, ruffled flower of creamy white flamed with purple. You will be enchanted! True broken tulip, late-blooming, 16-18”, zones 4a-7b(8bWC), from the Hortus Bulborum. Chart and care.

Brown? You bet! And it’s fabulous. This is the unbroken, Breeder form of a tulip which may be better known in its broken, mahogany-on-gold Bizarre form. Although its broken version is flashier, this anything-but-plain brown tulip – with its shades of coffee, bronze, and amber – needs no improvement. Single Late, 18-20”, zones 4a-7a(8bWC), from the Hortus Bulborum. See our other brown tulips. Chart and care.

Named for a fiery French statesman, this “handsome flower” is “bright chestnut-bronze with golden-bronze margin and bronze-black center,” to quote the 1931 catalog of London’s Barr and Sons. It’s also one of the rarest tulips we’re offering this year – the Hortus has promised us just 25 bulbs – so if you want it, don’t delay! Dutch Breeder/Single Late, 24-28”, zones 4a-7b(8bWC), from the Hortus Bulborum. Chart and care.

An affordable 18th-century antique, “Emperor’s Crown” is still “magnificent for any purpose,” as C.S. Allen wrote in his 1893 best-seller, Bulbs and Tuberous Rooted Plants. Counterfeits are rife today, but our bulbs are the real deal. You’ll even see them blooming at Mount Vernon! Single Early, 13”, zones 3a-7b(8bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.

Red is the most traditional, iconic color in tulips, and ‘Kingsblood’ is one of the 20th century’s finest, most enduring reds. Tall, late-blooming, and stately, it’s drop-dead gorgeous interplanted with ‘Greuze’, or sprinkle a few among pastel tulips to add a bit of visual zest, like the maraschino cherries in the fruit cocktail your grandmother used to serve. Single Late, 22-24”, zones 3a-7b(8bWC), from Holland. Chart and care.