Male: When you think of tulips, if you’re like me, you tend to think of Holland. But you don’t think of Dallas, Texas until now. But Dallas Arboretum spring tulips display then making a lot of people stop and think twice about how do you spring flowering bulbs in southern gardens. Jimmy Turner with the garden tells us more.
Jimmy: So what does it take for a tulip to be Arboretum approved tulip from the Dallas Arboretum Trial Program let better be a great tulip if I’m gonna put our name to it. But some of the things we really look for is can it stand up to 45 mile hour winds, will it bend over and stand right back up if it blows over as a torrential flood which we do every spring here in Dallas. Does the color hold up to our bright sunny days? If they fade or turn brown in the edges instantly I want a tulip that looks fresh. But most importantly, how long does this flower last? These flowers should last at least 2 weeks and I really prefer 3. Most tulips in average last about 14 days.
But something else I do is I ask the customers and I ask some of our visitors, what tulip do you like? I really like strong, bold colors. But our visitors sometimes surprise me because this year pale pinks are in. The double blacks are in, the interesting tulips. If you’re really confused what tulip to plant, there’s one group and there’s about 15 different groups of tulips. Then look for this group name on whatever box of tulips you buy a variety should say Single Late, single as in not married, late as in not early.
Most people assumed that early tulips should be the best given that early but for the truth, you know, most of them are short, kind of like big crocuses. If you’re like me, you want a tulip that stands 2 foot tall looks you in the eye with a fist size flower. All tulips look wonderful when planted in mass. And if you’re gonna plant in mass, don’t do less than 25 bulbs. Other than that it’s just going to be a waste of your money and a waste of a show. But sometimes you want something a little different, something to show your neighbor off and if you’re looking for something like that, look for the parrot type tulips. Look for Double Late tulips which look like big giant peonies in the garden. Mix those with some regular single late tulips and they really show up extra well using a container up around at your front door or your patios, somewhere you can see them close up. But there’s something you don’t really associate with the tulips flowers as far as the shape, the parrots really got feathers, and the bright gaudy colors. The double late look like the giant peonies and roses, pink and white. Mix those with a white or pale pink single late and it really does stop traffic. They’re really one of the most asked about tulips on property just because they’re so different.
Male: Tulips make wonderful cut flowers. And if you cut them try to get them before the flowers really are fully blown out. A tight bulb will last much longer in the vase.
Now another spring bulb is popular for cutting and bringing indoors is the daffodil. But you need to be aware you see the sap of daffodils is toxic to other flowers. So stick to mixing them in with evergreens or in bouquets that are all narcissus and daffodil varieties. Now speaking of daffodils, if you’re looking for a spring flowering bulb that’s reliably perennial, you might give these guys a try. They’re really easy to plant. They naturalize well in the landscape and deer and ground breaking rodents well they don’t like the taste of them.
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