The next two months are the prime time for those of us here in the Midwest to plant spring blooming bulbs. The scorching heat is beginning to diminish, leaving the soil warm but workable. Light bursts of rainfall are predicted, giving enough moisture to prompt root growth. And, if you’ve visited any of the big box stores lately, you’ll see that their shelves are beginning to be filled with box after box of spring flowering bulbs ready to be planted – everything from tiny snowdrops to huge alliums. Most of all though, dozens of varieties of daffodils and gorgeous tulips are available.
Like many people, I associate tulip bulbs with the Netherlands, since they grow and supply over 80% of the world’s markets with premium grade bulbs. Because literally hundreds of thousands of bulbs are produced there each year, it never occurred to me to question the origin of the tulip bulb. I assumed it was native to the region.
Surprisingly, the tulips bulbs we know are actually relatives of brightly blooming native flowers growing on mountain slopes and steppes of Asia Minor, the Near East and the Mediterranean. While no definitive records have been found, plant historians believe that the popularity of the tulip began as early a the 11th or 12th century. Some think that sultan Salim II, ruler of the Ottoman empire, loved the red native flower so much that he brought 30,000 bulbs from Crimea to his palace gardens in Constantinople, which is today’s Istanbul, Turkey. The tulip grew in importance in the Ottoman Empire, as well as the nearby cultures, eventually becoming the national symbol for the Ottoman Empire.
In the mid 1500s, tulip bulbs are thought to have been introduced to Western Europe by an Ottoman ambassador who gifted them to the Hapsburg court. By the 1590s, tulip bulbs had been planted in the botanical gardens at the University of Leiden, where they had flourished, despite the brutal climate. They soon became a desired luxury item, and were sold or traded for incredible sums. Historical records show that one unique bulb was sold for a price comparable to a fashionable Amsterdam townhouse while others were classified as more valuable than diamonds. The Tulip Mania, as the era was called, continued for about three years, until outbreaks of fungal diseases and declining flower fashionability broke the bubble.
By the early 1600s, tulips had become popular in the New World. They were especially desired in New Amsterdam (Manhattan, New York), where Dutch immigrants longed for a slice of home. Thanks to the interest of early botanists and wealthy plant collectors, new varieties of tulips soon became entrenched in American society. For example, Thomas Jefferson writes of tulips more than any other flower in his garden book. The artist John Singleton Copley features tulips in many of his portraits as a symbol of wealth, intellect and status. Seeing an opportunity, a Dutch traveling salesman named Hendrik van der Schoot came to the United States selling bulbs and a new industry quickly evolved.
Today, there are over 150 species of tulips and more than 3,000 varieties, divided into 15 official groups based on size, shape, bloom time and genetic origin. Although these 3,00 varieties do vary widely in size, color and shape, their cultural requirements are remarkably similar. To flourish, tulips need full sun during their growing and flowering season. They do best in well-drained neutral to slightly acid soil that has been highly enriched with compost. They want a soil that stays more to the dry side rather than one that retains a great deal of moisture. Finally, in order to bloom, tulips need 14 to 16 weeks of soil temperatures below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
When planting tulips, experts recommend planting the bulbs 4 to 8 inches deep, depending on the size of the bulb. A good rule of thumb is to plant a bulb two or three times as deep as the length of the bulb from end to end. Space them 3 or 4 inches apart and with the pointed end facing upward. (If a bulb is planted upside down, it will still bloom. It just may take a bit longer for the plant to emerge from the soil.) Groupings of at least 10 to 15 bulbs give a gorgeous display in the garden.
You can throw a handful of bone meal, compost or bulb fertilizer into the hole before planting, but a well-prepared bed is preferable. Another alternative is to topdress the planting bed with two inches of compost, encouraging earthworms to burrow through the compost and into the ground below, naturally aerating the soil. Water well after planting, but hold back on watering unless there is an unusually dry period. Too much water will quickly rot bulbs.
Squirrels, voles and other small rodents are masters at finding, digging up and destroying tulip bulbs. To curtail their destruction, you can wrap a piece of chicken wire around each bulb as you plant. The wire will thwart the thieves, but the openings in the wire are large enough for the leaves and stems to pish through. Granular or liquid applications may work, but they need to be reapplied weekly throughout the growing season. Fencing in the bed seems to be the only real protection from deer devouring beds of tulips.
Tulip bulbs are typically harvested and readied for sale in midsummer. They are “graded” by, among other characteristics, their sizes, which is essentially the measurement around their circumference. A size 10-12 bulb is between a 10 and 12 cm measurement around the middle. For many varieties, such as Darwins and Single Early’s, the bigger the bulb, the greater the potential flower. For others however, think the Parrot series, a smaller bulb (8 - 10) produces superb flowers. Most industry representatives warn consumers to be wary of cheaply priced spring garden packs because they often contain small-sized, low quality bulbs that will struggle in the garden. Because of climate change issues such as extremely high fall rainfall amounts and exceptionally heavy spring hailstorms, many Dutch growers suffered huge crop losses. As a result, expect this season’s bulbs to be both smaller and more expensive than in previous years.
Having taken the time to learn more about tulips, I’m going to do something this fall that I haven’t done in over twenty years; I’m going to plant tulip bulbs. I’ve avoided them for years because I decided that they were “too finicky, didn’t last long enough and were the favorite meal of every deer in a ten mile radius.” I realize that it's still all true -- they are finicky and they don't last for years and deer do consider them fine dining -- but they also have a unique beauty that brings a feeling of rebirth to the spring garden.
