DIVIDE AND PROSPER

 Tulip fever

Last year we re-purposed an old roll top bath which we could not sell (everyone said it was too big for their bathroom). It  is now in our car-park where it adds year round interest - Christmas roses and snowdrops, then daffodils and tulips, a climbing hydrangea and, all year round, a varigated ivy.  The theme tends to be very much green and white, but I added one or two of my favourite tulips to give a pop of colour in April.

We plant about a dozen tubs of tulips every year, bringing them out into the best space in the garden just as they are about to flower. Once spent I move them to a quiet corner, feed and water them until the foliage has died back and then dig up the bulbs. These are stored in paper bags until the late autumn when we plant them out and hope that they naturalise. It is surprising the impact a couple of pots of tulips can have when they are in the right place - here is a selection by our front door, along with succulents and two Convolvulus cneorum which are at the front in the stone tubs.

There are hundreds of type of tulip and you can get lost in a catalogue trying to decide what to buy. The only way forward is to jump right in and experiment. Doing this I have, over the years, build up a small battalion of favourites, some of which are pictured below.

Apricot Parrot - a blowsy tulip with a lax habit which can tend towards pink as the flower ages.

Virichic (the tall pink one) which is this year's experiment. It is next to Purple Doll, which is on the right.

Spring Green, my all time favourite, and orange Princess Irene which never ceases to amaze me as I look closely at the purple shading which appears to have been painted at the base of the flower. Really robust and reliable, but looks so fragile.

Another purple doll - this is one from last year's pots and is now in the bath.

Finally - more spring green.

There is a bit of a theme to the tulips I like - many of them are viridiform, that is to say they have green striations to the petals. The other great favourite is lily flowered tulips (like Purple Doll). Virichic combines both - which is perhaps why it has grabbed my attention so fiercely this year.