Cut Flower Favorite
Stock your bulb cutting garden with elegant lily-flowering tulips and enjoy creating bouquets as soon as the temperatures warm next spring. Other tulips to consider include bold triumph tulips, parrot tulips, all types of daffodils, hyacinths, and summer snowflake (Leucojum spp.). Your bouquets will boast a symphony of welcome color after a long winter, and also add sweet fragrance to a room.
Lily-Flowering Tulip Care Must-Knows
Like all tulip bulbs, lily-flowering tulips require well-drained soil and at least 6 hours of bright sunlight per day. Tulips do best in soil that is relatively dry in summer and well-drained in winter. Wet, boggy soil in winter quickly leads to bulb rot. The best time to plant tulip bulbs is mid-fall or when the nighttime temperatures consistently hover in the 40s. Prepare the planting bed, breaking up any clods as you dig a 6- to 8-inch-deep planting trench. Place the bulbs 6 inches apart in the bottom of the trench and cover them with loose soil. Water tulips well after planting.
Varieties of Lily-Flowering Tulip
‘Ballade’ Tulip
This variety of Tulipa gracefully shades from deep burgundy-purple at the center of each petal to pale lavender-white on the edge. When fully open, the petals reveal yellow markings at their bases. It grows 16 inches tall and blooms late in the season. Plant in zones 3-8.
‘Ballerina’ Tulip
Tulipa ‘Ballerina’ grows 20 inches tall. The tangerine-orange blooms brushed in yellow might have you performing pirouettes in the garden with their delightful fragrance. Plant in zones 3-8.
‘China Pink’ Tulip
Pure pink blooms on sturdy but delicate-looking, slender stems make this Tulipa variety special. They reach 20 inches tall. This Royal Horticulture Horticultural Society award winner blooms in midspring. Plant in zones 3-8.
‘Holland Chic’ Tulip
Tulipa ‘Holland Chic’ appears nearly white with a blush of pink when blooms are tightly closed, but as the flowers open, a deeper pink stripe inside becomes apparent. This lily-flowered, late-blooming tulip grows 24 inches tall. Plant in zones 3-8.
‘White Triumphator’ Tulip
This variety of Tulipa is a late-season bloomer on stems that grow to 24 inches tall. It has large, long-lasting, ivory-white flowers. Try it with white bleeding heart for a dazzling evening garden combination. Plant in zones 3-8.
‘Tres Chic’ Tulip
Tulipa ‘Tres Chic’ bears pure white lily-shape flowers on stems up to 24 inches tall. Its large blooms appear in mid- to late season. Plant in zones 3-8.
‘Mona Lisa’ Tulip
This selection of Tulipa will make you smile when its bright yellow flowers painted with lipstick-red burst into bloom. It grows 16 inches tall. Plant in zones 3-8.
‘West Point’ Tulip
Tulipa ‘West Point’ is a late-season bloomer on stems 22 inches tall. It has lemon-yellow flowers with long petals that are curved with pointed ends. Plant in zones 3-8.
‘Virichic’ Tulip
Also classified as a Viridiflora tulip, these pink Tulipa beauties have a stunning green streak down the center of each petal. 18 inches tall. Plant in zones 3-7.
