Tulip Black Hero

Tulip Black Hero – a dramatic glossy purple-black; Tulip Black Hero is the double of Queen of Night. Double layers of petals range from a dark maroon through mahogany to midnight black, providing a strong contrast to lighter colours. As an extra bonus, Tulip ‘Black Hero’ is scented.

Flowering in the spring, tulip bulbs grow well in borders, rock gardens and containers providing colour from early March through to mid-May.

When do I plant Tulip bulbs?

Tulip bulbs will be shipped to you from the middle of September once we have received the bulbs. The optimum time to plant tulips is in Autumn, when the soil has cooled down from October to December, but you can plant as late as January. Tulip bulbs need a spell of 6 weeks of cold weather to activate them into flowering in spring.

How do I plant Double Tulip bulbs?

When planting Double Tulip bulbs, you will need to give them a little more space than singles and make sure they are sheltered from the wind to avoid damage as they are a bit more top heavy.

Tulip bulbs don’t need to be prepared in any way prior to planting. Plant Tulip Black Hero bulbs 15cm deep in well-draining soil and around 10cm apart. They can be planted in a sunny position or semi-shade, with well-drained slightly acidic or neutral soil. The sun will make the tulip flowers open very wide, but they close again overnight. Tulip bulbs produce a lot of roots that don’t like to sit in water, but once they start growing make sure they don’t dry out. If planting in pots, make sure they have good drainage and lots of room for the roots to develop. Pots can dry out quite quickly so a loam soil is often best.

How do I store tulip bulbs?

Once your Tulips have bloomed you can deadhead the flowers but do not remove the leaves. These will ensure the bulbs are able to gather and store the energy needed to bloom again the following year.

Tulip bulbs can be kept in the ground all year round, but you may find that they don’t put on as much of a display as the previous year.

Once the foliage has yellowed and died back, it can be removed, then carefully dig the tulip bulbs up. Clean the soil off and let the bulbs dry. Discard any damaged ones. Store tulip bulbs in nets or paper bags, but make sure you label them. Keep in a cool dark place ready to replant in the Autumn.