Tulips
Buy Tulip bulbs Now
For us and indeed the whole flower bulb industry, the Tulip is by far the most important bulbous plant. We import and sell nearly 200 different Tulip varieties which is a lot of variations for one genus, but there are more than 5,600 registered by the Royal General Bulbgrowers’ Association in the Netherlands. Of course it would not be possible for that amount of varieties to be grown commercially, but there are still up to 1,000 types cultivated.
With these Tulips all coming in different shapes and sizes and with widely differing flowering times, they have been split into sixteen different groups…
Tulip groups…
Single Early tulipa
Single flowered cultivars, mainly short stemmed and early flowering.
Double Early tulipa
Double flowered cultivars, mainly short stemmed and early flowering.
Triumph tulipa
Single flowered cultivars, stem of medium length, flowering mid season. Originally the result of hybridization between cultivars of the Single Early Group and the Single Late Group.
Darwin Hybrid tulipa
Single flowered cultivars, long stemmed, mid season flowering. Originally the result of hybridization between cultivars of the Darwin Group with Tulipa fosteriana, and the result of hybridization between other cultivars and botanical tulips which have the same habit and in which the wild plant is not evident.
Single Late tulipa
Single flowered cultivars, mainly long-stemmed, late flowering. This group includes the former Darwin Group and Cottage Group.
Lily Flowered tulipa
Single flowered cultivars, mid season or late flowering, flowers with pointed, reflexed tepals. Stem length variable.
Fringed tulipa
Single flowered cultivars, tepals are edged with a crystal shaped fringe, mid season or late flowering. Stem of variable length.
Viridiflora tulipa
Single flowered cultivars with partly green tepals. Late flowering. Stem of varying length.
Rembrandt tulipa
Cultivars with broken flower colors, striped or marked brown, bronze, black, red, pink or purple, on red, white or yellow ground. Caused by virus infection. Long stemmed. (Not commercially available only in historical collections).
Parrot tulipa
Single flowered cultivars with laciniate, curled and twisted petals. Mainly late flowering. Stem of variable length.
Double Late tulipa
Double flowered cultivars. Late flowering and mainly long stemmed.
Fringe tulipa
Single-flowered cultivars, petals edged with crystalline fringes, flowering mid-season or late. Stem of variable length.
Kaufmanniana tulipa
Very early flowering, sometimes with mottled foliage. Flower with a multicolored base that opens fully. Exterior normally with clear carmine blush. Height up to 20cm.
Fosteriana tulipa
Early flowering, leaves very broad, green or grey green, sometimes mottled or striped. Stem medium to long. Large long flower, base variable.
Greigii tulipa
Mostly with mottled or striped foliage, flowering later than Kaufmanniana. Leaves spreading normally on the ground, mostly strongly undulated. Flower shape variable.
Miscellaneous tulipa
In fact not a cultivar group, but the collection of all species, varieties and their cultivars in which the wild species is evident, not belonging to any of the above mentioned cultivar groups.
History of Dutch Tulips
Widely available at modest prices today, tulips and tulip bulbs are still closely associated with the Netherlands. However, the tulip is not a native Dutch bulb.
Europeans saw the tulip first in Turkey. Most of these tulips probably originated in areas around the Black Sea, in the Crimea, and in the steppes to the north of the Caucasus.
At first, in the 1560s, trade and diplomatic interaction allowed a small number of tulips and tulip bulbs to be imported into Europe. In this early stage, tulip ownership was primarily limited to wealthy nobles and scholars. Antwerp, Brussels, Augsburg, Paris, and Prague are among some of the cities where such tulips first began to circulate.
The tulip was introduced to the Netherlands in 1593.
The Dutch Tulip Bulb Today
Dutch tulip growers dominate the world tulip bulb industry. There are 10,000 hectares of tulip bulbs grown in the Netherlands. Seventy per cent of the tulip bulbs cultivated are forced for flowers the remaining 30% are raised as bulk tulips for gardens.
The average size of a tulip bulb growing Dutch farm is 15 hectares. Tulip bulbs are rotated with other bulb crops, vegetables and pasture.
Bulk tulips are shipped over the world to wholesale tulip merchants.
The Wholesale Tulip Bulb Market
The world market for tulip bulbs has been buoyant for the past ten years. Bulk tulip bulb production has been increasing at the rate of 6-8% per annum and the wholesale tulips market has expanded in line with this growth. In the Netherlands three quarters of the total production of tulip bulbs are exported, with the highest percentage going to the United States followed by Germany.
Tulip Production in Holland
The very best of soils are required to grow good crops of tulips commercially. A good depth of soil reasonably free from stones and a pH of 6.5 is necessary. Adequate moisture retention in April, May and June is essential. In most situations irrigation is essential.
Planting takes place from mid-October to early November when soil conditions are suitable. The normal tulip crop cycle lasts for nine months, planting in October/early November with harvesting the following June/July.
The tulip bulbs are planted either on drills or in a bed system. The size of the tulip bulb planted (measured in cm. around the circumference) usually varies from 7-10 cm.