Growing Ranunculus: The Rose of Spring

 

Few spring flowers look quite as extravagant as ranunculus. Their blossoms are composed of layer upon layer of delicate petals, packed so closely together that a fully opened flower can resemble a small rose or peony. The colors range from pure white and cream to yellow, apricot, salmon, pink, orange, scarlet, burgundy, and nearly every shade between.

Yet beneath all that finery is a surprisingly modest plant. Ranunculus are not difficult to grow if their basic requirements are understood. They prefer cool weather, abundant sunshine, good drainage, and—most importantly—planting at the proper time.

For gardeners who enjoy spring bulbs, ranunculus deserve a place alongside tulips, daffodils, anemones, and other old favorites.

What Is Ranunculus?

Ranunculus is a large genus in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. In fact, our familiar wild buttercups are ranunculus.

The showy plants sold for gardens and cut flowers are usually forms of Persian buttercup, Ranunculus asiaticus. The species is native to the eastern Mediterranean region and neighboring parts of southwestern Asia.

Centuries of cultivation have transformed the relatively simple wild flower into the remarkably full, many-petaled varieties we grow today.

Modern garden ranunculus may produce flowers several inches across, often on stems 12 to 18 inches tall. Their fern-like foliage forms a low mound beneath the flowers.

Ranunculus Have a Long Garden History

Ranunculus are hardly newcomers to ornamental gardening.

Persian and Turkish forms attracted European attention centuries ago, and by the 17th and 18th centuries ranunculus had become prized garden flowers. Florists and nurserymen selected increasingly elaborate forms and colors, much as they did with tulips, carnations, and auriculas.

Their popularity has risen and fallen over the centuries, but the flower itself never lost its charm.

Today ranunculus are enjoying another well-deserved period of popularity, particularly as cut flowers.

Those Curious Ranunculus "Bulbs"

Ranunculus are frequently sold with spring-flowering bulbs, but what you receive in the package isn't actually a bulb.

Ranunculus grow from tuberous roots, usually called corms by gardeners and in the nursery trade.

They are unmistakable.

A dormant ranunculus corm looks rather like a tiny dried octopus, claw, or bunch of miniature bananas. It hardly seems possible that such a shriveled object could produce an elegant flower.

It can—and remarkably quickly under the right conditions.

When Should Ranunculus Be Planted?

This is the most important question because ranunculus are cool-season plants.

In climates with mild winters, ranunculus can be planted in autumn for flowers the following late winter or spring.

That makes fall planting particularly useful throughout much of the South, provided the winter is not severe enough to damage the plants.

In colder climates, plant ranunculus in late winter or early spring, timing them so that they can grow and flower during cool spring weather.

Ranunculus do not particularly enjoy summer heat. Once genuinely hot weather arrives, the plants naturally begin to decline and enter dormancy.

Think of them as flowers of the cool, lengthening days of spring rather than summer bedding plants.

Should Ranunculus Corms Be Soaked Before Planting?

Yes. Soaking is generally beneficial.

Place the dry corms in room-temperature water for about three to four hours before planting. They will gradually swell as they absorb moisture.

There is no need to soak them overnight. Excessively long soaking can encourage rot.

Some professional flower growers pre-sprout their ranunculus before planting, but the home gardener usually needn't make matters complicated. A few hours of soaking followed by planting in properly prepared soil works well.

Which Way Do the Claws Point?

Unlike anemone tubers, ranunculus make the answer fairly easy.

Plant the corm with the claws pointing downward.

The flatter central portion belongs toward the surface, while the little finger-like projections point into the soil.

It may look as though you're burying a miniature squid headfirst. That is nevertheless the correct arrangement.

How Deep Should Ranunculus Be Planted?

Plant the corms approximately 2 inches deep, generally spacing them about 4 to 6 inches apart.

For a lush display in containers or a dedicated cutting bed, they can be planted fairly closely.

Cover them gently with soil and water after planting. Thereafter, avoid keeping the ground continually saturated.

Ranunculus need moisture while actively growing, but their corms are susceptible to rot in soggy conditions.

Sun and Soil Requirements

Ranunculus perform best in full sun.

Give them at least six hours of direct sunlight if possible. In warmer climates, a location receiving morning sun and some protection from intense late-afternoon heat can also work well.

Good drainage is essential.

A loose, fertile sandy loam enriched with compost is excellent. Heavy clay soils should be improved, or ranunculus can be grown in raised beds or containers where drainage can be controlled more easily.

If water routinely stands in the planting area after rain, choose somewhere else.

Ranunculus would rather have slightly lean, well-drained ground than luxurious mud.

Growing Ranunculus in the Southern Garden

Southern gardeners have one considerable advantage with ranunculus: our relatively mild winters can permit the plants to establish themselves during the cool season.

But there is also a disadvantage.

Spring can turn into summer with indecent haste.

For that reason, autumn planting is often preferable in warmer parts of the South. It gives the plants time to develop roots and allows them to begin growing while temperatures remain favorable.

The objective is to have them flowering before serious heat arrives.

In areas subject to occasional hard freezes, some protection may be necessary during unusually cold spells. A layer of mulch, frost cloth, or temporary protection can save tender emerging growth.

Growing Ranunculus in Containers

Ranunculus are exceptionally good container plants.

Terra-cotta pots are particularly handsome with them, and the excellent drainage provided by unglazed clay suits their preferences.

Choose a container with drainage holes and fill it with a high-quality, free-draining potting mix. Plant several corms together rather than trying to make one lonely plant carry the entire performance.

Containers also have a practical advantage: they can be moved.

If severe cold threatens, pots can temporarily be placed in a protected location. As flowering begins, they can be moved to porches, patios, entrances, or other places where their blossoms can be enjoyed at close range.

Watering and Feeding

After growth begins, keep the soil evenly moist but not wet.

Ranunculus should not be allowed to become bone dry while actively growing and flowering, but overwatering is considerably more dangerous than occasional slight dryness.

A light application of balanced fertilizer during active growth can encourage vigorous plants and abundant flowers.

Avoid excessive nitrogen. Too much produces lush foliage at the expense of flowers.

Ranunculus Make Superb Cut Flowers

One of the best reasons to grow ranunculus is to bring them indoors.

Their long stems and densely layered flowers make them among the finest spring flowers for cutting. They are widely grown commercially for precisely this purpose.

Harvest flowers when the buds have developed good color and are beginning to open but are not yet fully expanded.

Cut them during the cool part of the morning with clean, sharp snips and place the stems immediately in water.

Frequent cutting can also encourage the plant to continue producing flowers.

Deadheading Ranunculus

If you aren't cutting the flowers for arrangements, remove faded blooms before they begin producing seed.

Deadheading directs the plant's energy toward continued flowering rather than seed production.

But once the entire flowering season is finished, don't immediately remove the leaves.

Allow the foliage to remain until it begins to yellow naturally. The leaves are feeding the underground corm and preparing it for dormancy.

What Happens When Summer Arrives?

Ranunculus naturally die back as temperatures rise.

Yellowing foliage after flowering is therefore not necessarily evidence that something has gone wrong. It is part of the plant's normal cycle.

Once the foliage has died, reduce watering.

In climates where the corms can safely remain in well-drained soil, they may be left undisturbed during dormancy. Elsewhere, gardeners often lift the corms after the foliage has completely died.

Allow lifted corms to dry, clean away excess soil, and store them in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place until the next planting season.

Will Ranunculus Come Back Every Year?

They can, but the answer depends considerably upon climate.

Ranunculus asiaticus is naturally perennial, but it isn't reliably hardy everywhere. In favorable mild climates with excellent drainage, corms may survive in the ground and return.

In colder regions, they are commonly treated as tender perennials or even as annuals.

Hot, wet summers can also be troublesome because dormant corms are vulnerable to rotting.

For gardeners determined to preserve particular varieties, lifting and storing the corms after dormancy is the safer approach.

Planting Ranunculus With Other Spring Flowers

Ranunculus fit beautifully into a traditional spring garden.

Plant them with anemones for an especially handsome combination. The open, dark-centered flowers of Anemone coronaria contrast wonderfully with the densely layered ranunculus blossoms.

They also combine well with tulips, daffodils, violas, pansies, snapdragons, and other cool-season flowers.

Because ranunculus are available in such a broad range of colors, the planting can be restrained or exuberant.

White, cream, blush, and pale apricot make an elegant garden. Scarlet, orange, yellow, purple, and hot pink announce spring rather more loudly.

There is room for both approaches.

A Remarkable Flower From an Unremarkable Beginning

Perhaps the greatest pleasure in growing ranunculus is the transformation.

In autumn or early spring, you hold a dry little claw in your hand. It appears lifeless and not particularly promising. You soak it, bury it a couple of inches beneath the earth, and wait.

Then come the finely divided leaves. Stems rise above them. Tight round buds appear.

And finally those buds unfold into flowers containing seemingly impossible numbers of petals—great silken rosettes of cream, apricot, rose, scarlet, yellow, or burgundy.

Plant the claws downward, give them sunshine and cool weather, keep their feet out of soggy soil, and let them do the rest.

For something that begins life looking so much like a dried spider, the ranunculus finishes the season with considerable dignity.

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Anemones — Windflowers for the Spring Garden

 

There is something wonderfully old-fashioned about anemones. Their flowers are simple but striking—silken petals surrounding dark or brightly colored centers, held above finely divided foliage on slender stems that move with the slightest breeze. That habit gave them one of their oldest and most enduring names: windflowers.

The genus Anemone contains well over a hundred species distributed through temperate regions of Europe, Asia, North America, and elsewhere. Some are woodland perennials, some are late-summer and autumn flowers, and others grow from small, rather unpromising-looking tubers that produce some of the brightest flowers of spring.

For the bulb garden, two Mediterranean species are especially important: Anemone coronaria, the poppy anemone, and Anemone blanda, often called the Grecian windflower.

Why Are Anemones Called Windflowers?

The name Anemone has ancient roots. Greek writers associated the flower with anemos, meaning "wind," and the traditional name "windflower" has followed it for centuries.

There are various legends explaining the connection. In classical mythology, anemones became associated with Aphrodite and the death of Adonis, and later writers embellished the flower's story considerably.

But one hardly needs mythology to understand the name. Watch a bed of anemones on a breezy spring day. Their slender stems allow the flowers to nod and sway while remaining remarkably resilient.

The name suits them.

Anemone coronaria — The Poppy Anemone

Among the most spectacular garden anemones is Anemone coronaria, native to the Mediterranean region and parts of western Asia.

Its flowers can resemble small poppies, usually with a conspicuous dark center surrounded by broad petals. Colors include scarlet, crimson, blue, violet, pink, white, and mixtures of these shades.

Two traditional groups are especially familiar to gardeners.

De Caen anemones generally produce large, single flowers and are excellent for borders and cutting gardens.

St. Brigid anemones produce semi-double or double flowers with a fuller, somewhat ruffled appearance.

Both make splendid cut flowers. In fact, Anemone coronaria has long been valued by the florist trade because its stems are elegant and its colors unusually intense.

Anemone blanda — The Grecian Windflower

Anemone blanda is a smaller and altogether different creature.

Rather than producing the tall, poppy-like flowers of A. coronaria, it forms low carpets of daisy-like blossoms, usually in shades of blue, lavender, pink, or white.

It is particularly effective beneath deciduous trees and shrubs, along woodland edges, in rock gardens, and toward the front of perennial borders.

Where conditions suit it, Anemone blanda can naturalize and spread into handsome colonies. A scattering of blue windflowers beneath still-bare spring branches has a quiet woodland beauty that regimented rows simply cannot reproduce.

Those Strange Little "Bulbs"

When you first open a package of dormant anemones, disappointment would be understandable.

They don't look like much.

The dormant structures commonly sold as "anemone bulbs" are actually tubers. They are small, hard, brown, shriveled objects that sometimes look more like dried bits of bark than something capable of producing flowers.

Don't judge them by appearances. Once hydrated and planted, those peculiar little tubers awaken remarkably quickly.

Should Anemone Tubers Be Soaked Before Planting?

Soaking is commonly recommended, particularly for Anemone coronaria.

Before planting, place the dry tubers in room-temperature water for approximately three to four hours. This allows them to absorb moisture and begin rehydrating.

There is no advantage in leaving them submerged for days. A modest soaking is sufficient.

After soaking, plant them promptly.

Some gardeners pre-sprout anemone tubers before planting, particularly when raising them commercially for cut flowers. For the ordinary home garden, however, soaking followed by direct planting is usually quite adequate.

Which Way Is Up?

This question has puzzled generations of gardeners because anemone tubers often seem deliberately designed to conceal the answer.

Fortunately, it doesn't matter very much.

If you can identify a pointed or growing side, position it upward. If you cannot—and often you cannot—plant the tuber on its side.

The plant will sort matters out underground. Plants have been doing this sort of thing considerably longer than gardeners have.

When Should Anemones Be Planted?

Planting time depends upon climate and the type of anemone being grown.

In regions with relatively mild winters, Anemone coronaria can often be planted in autumn for late-winter or spring flowers. This is particularly useful in much of the South.

Where winters are severe, the tubers are more commonly planted in early spring, once the ground can be worked. They will then flower later in spring or early summer.

Anemone blanda is considerably more cold hardy and is normally planted in autumn alongside crocuses, daffodils, and other spring-flowering bulbs.

Always consider the hardiness of the particular species or cultivar rather than assuming that all anemones behave alike.

Where Should Anemones Be Planted?

For Anemone coronaria, choose a position with full sun to light shade and, above all, well-drained soil.

They dislike waterlogged ground. Heavy, soggy winter soil can rot the tubers before they ever have an opportunity to flower.

A loose, fertile garden soil enriched with compost is excellent. Raised beds are particularly useful where drainage is questionable.

Anemone blanda tolerates more woodland-like conditions and performs well beneath deciduous trees, where it receives abundant sunlight in early spring before the trees leaf out.

How Deep Should You Plant Them?

Anemone tubers do not need to be buried deeply.

Plant Anemone coronaria roughly 2 to 3 inches deep, spacing the tubers approximately 3 to 6 inches apart, depending upon whether you want individual plants or a fuller massed display.

Anemone blanda tubers can likewise be planted a few inches deep and look best in informal groups or drifts.

Anemones are flowers that benefit greatly from generosity. Three plants may look accidental. Thirty can look magnificent.

Watering Anemones

Water thoroughly after planting, then maintain moderate moisture while the plants are actively growing.

The soil should be moist but never continuously saturated.

Once flowering has finished, allow the foliage to remain until it yellows naturally. As with other plants grown from bulbs, corms, and tubers, the leaves are replenishing the underground storage organ for the next growing season.

Do not cut healthy green foliage merely because the flowers have disappeared.

Growing Anemones in Containers

Anemones are excellent container plants.

Because the tubers are small, a surprisingly large number can be planted in a moderate-sized pot. Good drainage is essential, so use a container with drainage holes and a quality, free-draining potting mixture.

Pots can be planted quite densely for a concentrated display.

Anemones also combine beautifully with other spring bulbs. Their relatively delicate flowers provide a useful contrast to the heavier forms of tulips and daffodils.

Anemones as Cut Flowers

Anyone interested in a cutting garden should seriously consider Anemone coronaria.

Cut the flowers when they are beginning to open rather than waiting until they are fully mature. Use a clean, sharp knife or snips and place the stems promptly in fresh water.

The combination of slender stems, vivid petals, and contrasting centers gives anemones a character quite different from roses, tulips, or daffodils.

A simple vase containing nothing but anemones needs little improvement.

Do Deer and Rabbits Eat Anemones?

Anemones are generally regarded as less attractive to deer and rabbits than many common garden plants, although no flowering plant should be considered completely safe when hungry animals are determined enough.

Their relative resistance can make them useful additions to spring gardens where tulips regularly suffer from browsing.

Pollinating insects, on the other hand, may visit the open flowers.

Will Anemones Return Every Year?

That depends heavily upon the species and climate.

Anemone blanda is a genuine perennial in suitable conditions and can naturalize beautifully.

Anemone coronaria is perennial by nature, but its long-term garden performance varies considerably with climate. Where winters are mild and soils remain well drained, the tubers may survive and flower again. In colder regions they are often treated more like tender bulbs and either lifted for winter or replanted annually.

Poor drainage during dormancy is one of their greatest enemies.

Using Windflowers in the Garden

For the strongest effect, plant anemones in groups rather than isolated specimens.

Use Anemone coronaria in sunny borders, cottage gardens, cutting gardens, raised beds, and containers. Their intense reds, blues, whites, and pinks pair particularly well with spring bulbs and emerging perennials.

Use Anemone blanda differently. Allow it to wander beneath deciduous shrubs, along paths, around the feet of trees, or through informal woodland gardens.

The distinction is useful: A. coronaria provides drama; A. blanda provides enchantment.

Flowers Made for the Wind

Anemones possess a quality many modern bedding plants lack. They don't look manufactured.

Their stems lean. Their petals catch the light. A breeze sets the whole planting into motion. Even the grandest varieties retain something of the wildflower about them.

And perhaps that is why the ancient name has endured.

Plant the strange little tubers when the garden is settling toward winter. Give them decent soil, good drainage, sunlight, and a little patience. By spring, those dry brown fragments will have become flowers dancing above finely cut foliage.

Windflowers indeed.

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Growing Ornamental Alliums: Architectural Flowers for the Spring Garden

 

Few spring-flowering bulbs make quite the statement of ornamental alliums. Their great globes of purple, lavender, pink, white, and occasionally yellow seem to hover above the garden on remarkably straight stems. Some are modest little plants suitable for the front of a border; others produce flower heads the size of softballs—or larger—standing three or four feet above the ground.

Better still, ornamental alliums are generally easy to grow, return year after year when properly situated, attract pollinators, and are usually passed over by deer and rabbits. For a gardener who wants considerable effect without considerable fuss, they earn their keep.

What Are Ornamental Alliums?

Alliums belong to the same genus as onions, garlic, chives, shallots, and leeks. The genus Allium contains hundreds of species native across much of the Northern Hemisphere, with particularly rich diversity in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and western North America.

The ornamental varieties are grown primarily for their flowers rather than their usefulness in the kitchen. Their family resemblance is nevertheless easy to discover: bruise a leaf or cut into a bulb and the familiar onion or garlic scent usually gives the game away.

The flowers are composed of dozens—or sometimes hundreds—of tiny individual blossoms arranged in rounded umbels. From a distance, the effect is that of a single great ball of flowers.

Why Grow Ornamental Alliums?

Their chief virtue is architectural form. Tulips and daffodils make broad sweeps of spring color, while alliums introduce strong vertical lines and nearly perfect spheres.

They are especially valuable because many varieties bloom during the transition from the main spring bulb season into the early perennial season. Just as the tulips are beginning to bow out, the alliums can take the stage.

Alliums also have several practical virtues. They generally prefer ordinary garden conditions, need little attention once established, provide nectar and pollen for bees and other insects, and their onion-scented foliage and bulbs make them relatively unattractive to browsing deer, rabbits, and many rodents.

Even after flowering, the dried seed heads remain handsome. Left standing among perennials and ornamental grasses, they can provide structure well into summer.

When Should Allium Bulbs Be Planted?

Plant ornamental allium bulbs in autumn, generally from September through November, depending upon your climate.

The important thing is to get them into the ground after the soil has begun to cool but before it freezes hard. They need the winter chilling period to establish roots and prepare for spring growth.

In warmer Southern gardens, there is seldom any reason to rush. October and November are often excellent planting months, and planting may continue into early winter where the ground remains workable.

If bulbs arrive while the weather is still quite warm, keep them cool, dry, and well ventilated until planting time. Do not seal them in plastic where moisture can accumulate.

Choosing the Right Location

The ideal allium site has full sun and excellent drainage.

Most ornamental alliums perform best with six or more hours of direct sunlight each day. A little afternoon shade may be tolerated in hot climates, but deep shade usually produces weaker plants and poorer flowering.

Drainage is more important than rich soil. Allium bulbs dislike sitting in cold, wet earth. Heavy clay that remains waterlogged through winter can cause bulbs to rot.

If your garden has poorly drained soil, amend it with organic matter where appropriate or plant alliums in raised beds or naturally elevated areas. Avoid low spots where winter rain collects.

A well-drained sandy loam is close to ideal.

How Deep Should You Plant Alliums?

A useful old bulb-planting rule works well: plant the bulb about two to three times as deep as the bulb is tall.

Large ornamental allium bulbs are commonly planted about 6 to 8 inches deep, while smaller species may need only 3 to 4 inches.

Place the bulb with the pointed end upward. If you genuinely cannot tell which end is which, plant it on its side. The emerging shoot is quite capable of finding daylight without our assistance.

Space large alliums roughly 6 to 12 inches apart, depending upon the variety and the effect desired. Smaller species can be planted much closer together.

For the best display, resist the temptation to plant solitary bulbs at regular intervals like fence posts. Alliums usually look better planted in groups or loose drifts.

Designing With Alliums

This is where alliums become especially useful.

Large varieties are superb rising through lower-growing perennials. Their stems are sufficiently narrow that they do not create a heavy visual barrier, yet the flower heads appear above neighboring plants like purple punctuation marks.

Try them among catmint, hardy geraniums, salvias, peonies, roses, lamb's ear, daylilies, or ornamental grasses.

Companion planting also solves one of the few aesthetic shortcomings of the large alliums: their foliage often begins to yellow before the flowers have finished blooming.

This is perfectly normal.

Planting alliums among leafy perennials conceals the declining foliage while allowing the flower stalks to rise above it. It is a far better solution than cutting the leaves prematurely.

Don't Cut the Leaves Too Soon

As with daffodils, tulips, and other bulbs, the leaves manufacture and store the energy needed for next year's flowers.

After flowering, allow the foliage to yellow and die naturally before removing it.

The flower heads are another matter. You may cut them after bloom if you prefer a tidy garden, but there is no necessity to do so. Many gardeners deliberately leave the dried globes standing because they remain striking long after their color has faded.

Some are excellent in dried arrangements as well.

Watering and Feeding

Newly planted bulbs should be watered after planting to settle the soil and encourage root development.

Once established, ornamental alliums are fairly drought tolerant. During active spring growth they appreciate reasonable moisture, but constantly wet soil is considerably more dangerous than occasional dryness.

In ordinary fertile garden soil, elaborate feeding programs are unnecessary. A light application of compost or a balanced bulb fertilizer in spring can be useful where soil is poor.

Avoid excessive nitrogen. You are trying to grow flowers, not exceptionally luxurious onion leaves.

Some Alliums Are Giants—and Others Are Not

The word "allium" sometimes brings to mind enormous purple globes, but the genus offers much more variety.

Allium giganteum is among the famous tall types, producing large purple flower heads on imposing stems.

'Globemaster' is celebrated for its enormous violet-purple globes and makes an extraordinary specimen in the perennial border.

'Purple Sensation' is somewhat more restrained and extremely useful for mass planting, producing rich purple spheres in late spring.

'Mount Everest' provides the same strong architectural form in white.

At the other end of the scale are smaller ornamental alliums that work beautifully in rock gardens, along paths, and toward the front of borders. Some naturalize readily and gradually form attractive colonies.

There are even yellow-flowering species, such as Allium moly, which bear cheerful clusters of star-shaped flowers rather than the enormous purple spheres associated with the better-known ornamental hybrids.

Do Alliums Come Back Every Year?

In a suitable climate and well-drained soil, many ornamental alliums are reliable perennials.

Some gradually multiply by producing offsets around the original bulb. After several years, crowded clumps can be lifted and divided when dormant.

Performance varies by species and climate, however. Certain spectacular hybrid alliums may persist for years without spreading aggressively, while smaller species may naturalize with enthusiasm.

Good drainage is usually the difference between an allium that settles down for a long residence and one that quietly disappears.

Deer, Rabbits, and Pollinators

Alliums offer an unusually agreeable combination for the garden.

Bees and other pollinating insects are strongly attracted to the flowers, while deer and rabbits generally dislike the onion-like compounds in the plants.

No plant should be advertised as absolutely deer-proof—deer have been known to revise the gardening books when sufficiently hungry—but alliums are among the better choices for gardens troubled by browsing animals.

This also makes them useful companions for more vulnerable spring bulbs.

Growing Alliums in Containers

Ornamental alliums can also be grown successfully in pots.

Choose a substantial container with excellent drainage and use a free-draining potting mixture. Large varieties need enough soil depth to accommodate their sizeable bulbs and tall stems.

They can be planted alone or incorporated into layered bulb containers with tulips, daffodils, crocuses, or other spring bulbs.

Remember that containers expose bulbs to greater temperature fluctuations than garden soil. In very cold climates, pots may require winter protection.

A Flower With an Old-World Character

There is something both formal and whimsical about ornamental alliums. Their geometry would be perfectly at home in an old European garden, yet those improbable spheres hovering over a perennial border have an almost modern appearance.

That combination is part of their charm.

Plant a few among established perennials and they provide accents. Plant dozens and they create a remarkable spring spectacle. Mix varieties of different heights and flowering times, and the display can continue for weeks.

Most importantly, they ask remarkably little in return: sun, well-drained soil, autumn planting, and enough patience to leave the foliage alone until it has finished its work.

Give them those things, and ornamental alliums will rise each spring like brightly colored globes above the garden—orderly, architectural, and just eccentric enough to keep things interesting.

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Crocuses: Little Heralds of Spring — and Autumn

 

Few flowers accomplish so much with so little. Crocuses rise only a few inches above the earth, yet when their cups of purple, gold, lavender, striped violet, and white begin opening, they can transform the appearance of an entire garden.

For many gardeners, the crocus is the first unmistakable announcement that winter is losing its grip. A patch of crocuses pushing through cold ground — sometimes even through snow — is one of those small events by which gardeners have marked the turning of the year for centuries.

Yet there is more to the genus Crocus than the familiar spring flowers. Some crocuses bloom in autumn, and one of them has been cultivated since antiquity to produce one of the world's most precious spices: saffron.

Where Are Crocuses Native?

Crocuses belong to the iris family, Iridaceae, and grow from corms, rather than true bulbs. A corm is a swollen underground stem that stores the plant's food from one season to the next.

The natural home of Crocus lies largely in the Old World, particularly around the Mediterranean and southeastern Europe and eastward into western and central Asia. Different species are native to different regions.

The familiar spring or Dutch crocus, Crocus vernus, has its origins in the Alps and western Balkans. Crocus chrysanthus, from which many of our small early-flowering yellow and bicolored varieties are derived, is native from southeastern Europe into Türkiye. Other species occur in Greece, the Balkans, Spain, North Africa, Türkiye, Lebanon and neighboring regions.

This helps explain what crocuses generally want in the garden: sunshine, cool winters, moisture while actively growing, and soil that drains freely rather than remaining waterlogged.

Crocuses Have Been Cultivated for a Very Long Time

There isn't really a single person who can be credited with "introducing" the crocus into cultivation.

Humankind's relationship with crocuses reaches back into antiquity, long before modern botanical collecting and commercial bulb growing. The most famous example is the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus, which was already being cultivated thousands of years ago.

The larger spring crocuses familiar in modern gardens were developed through centuries of European cultivation and selection. The species we now call Crocus vernus was formally described botanically in the eighteenth century, but European gardeners knew crocuses long before botanists settled their modern scientific names.

By the nineteenth century, European nurserymen and plant collectors were bringing numerous crocus species into cultivation and selecting forms for larger flowers, stronger colors and better garden performance.

Thus the crocus is both an ancient cultivated plant and a thoroughly modern garden flower.

Spring-Flowering Crocuses

These are the crocuses most gardeners know.

Depending upon climate and variety, they bloom from late winter into early spring. Some of the smaller species and hybrids appear remarkably early.

Among the best-known groups are:

• Crocus vernus and its large-flowered Dutch forms
• Crocus chrysanthus and its hybrids
• Crocus tommasinianus, often affectionately called "Tommies"
• Crocus sieberi
• Crocus angustifolius

The large Dutch crocuses make bold patches of purple, white and striped flowers. The smaller species crocuses are often more delicate but can be particularly charming when allowed to naturalize.

Don't Forget the Autumn Crocuses

Not every crocus waits for spring.

Several true Crocus species flower in autumn, including Crocus speciosus, Crocus pulchellus and the celebrated Crocus sativus. Their flowers appear when much of the garden is beginning to wind down for the year.

There is an important botanical warning here.

Plants in the genus Colchicum are also commonly called "autumn crocuses," but they are not true crocuses. This distinction is especially important because colchicums are poisonous and should never be mistaken for saffron crocus.

The Saffron Crocus

Crocus sativus deserves special mention because few garden plants have had such a remarkable history.

Saffron is produced from the three brilliant red stigmas inside each flower. They are picked by hand and carefully dried.

And that explains the price.

It takes roughly 150 flowers to produce only about one gram of dried saffron.

The saffron crocus is an ancient cultivated plant whose exact wild origin has long been debated. Modern botanical authorities regard it as a cultigen originating in Greece, and it was probably selected thousands of years ago from a related wild crocus, generally identified as Crocus cartwrightianus. Crocus sativus is sterile, so it does not reproduce by seed. Human beings have perpetuated it by dividing and replanting its corms generation after generation.

That means every saffron crocus growing today belongs to a cultivated tradition stretching far back into antiquity.

For the adventurous gardener, saffron can be grown at home. Give the corms full sun and exceptionally good drainage, plant them about 4 to 6 inches deep and roughly 4 inches apart, and expect their lavender-purple flowers in autumn.

When Should Crocuses Be Planted?

The answer depends upon when they flower.

Spring-flowering crocuses should be planted in autumn, while the corms are dormant. September through November is suitable in many climates, and planting can continue as long as the soil remains workable.

In warmer Southern gardens, there is generally no reason to rush them into warm September soil. Waiting until the weather and soil have cooled in autumn is often preferable.

Autumn-flowering crocuses should be planted earlier, usually in late summer or early September. They need time to establish before their flowering season arrives. Saffron crocus is likewise normally planted in late summer or early autumn.

Where Should You Plant Crocuses?

Crocuses look best when they appear to belong where they are growing.

A single crocus here and another ten feet away can look rather forlorn. Plant them in groups, drifts and irregular clusters instead.

Good locations include sunny flower borders, rock gardens, raised beds, beneath deciduous trees and shrubs, along walks and paths, and in lawns or open grassy areas where they can naturalize.

They are also excellent container plants.

Because deciduous trees have not yet fully leafed out when spring crocuses are flowering, crocuses can thrive beneath them where the ground receives plenty of winter and early-spring sunshine.

For naturalizing in a lawn, remember one important rule: don't mow the foliage down immediately after flowering.

How Deep Should Crocus Corms Be Planted?

For most small spring-flowering crocuses, planting the corms about 3 to 4 inches deep works well. Large Dutch crocuses can be planted somewhat deeper, around 4 to 5 inches.

Plant with the pointed end upward. If you cannot determine which end is which, don't lose sleep over it. The emerging shoot is surprisingly capable of finding its way toward daylight.

Space the corms a few inches apart, or plant them more closely when you want an immediate massed effect.

For a natural appearance, avoid planting them in military ranks. Scatter a handful gently over the planting area and plant them approximately where they fall. Nature seldom uses a ruler.

Sun and Soil

Most crocuses perform best in full sun or light partial shade.

Drainage is more important than rich soil. Crocus corms sitting in cold, soggy ground are invitations to rot.

Ordinary garden soil is generally adequate if it drains freely. Heavy clay can be improved with organic matter and by planting in raised areas where excess water can escape. Rock gardens and raised beds are especially useful for species that demand sharp drainage.

The RHS notes that crocuses generally thrive in sunny, well-drained locations and can grow in borders, turf, containers and beneath deciduous trees.

Caring for Crocuses After They Bloom

Once the flowers fade, leave the foliage alone.

Those narrow green leaves are manufacturing and storing food in the corm for next year's flowers. Cutting or mowing them prematurely weakens the plants.

Allow the foliage to yellow and die naturally. Only then should it be removed.

This is particularly important when crocuses are naturalized in lawns. Delay mowing the crocus area until the leaves have substantially yellowed.

Established crocuses generally require little attention. In favorable conditions the corms multiply, gradually forming larger colonies. Crowded clumps can eventually be lifted and divided while dormant.

Crocuses in the Lawn

Few spring displays are more satisfying than crocuses scattered through an old lawn.

Smaller species are especially well suited to naturalizing. Rather than arranging them symmetrically, scatter the corms by hand and plant them where they land. Over several years the original planting may expand into broad colonies.

The effect can look as though the flowers had always been there.

That is often the difference between merely planting flowers and making a garden.

Small Flowers with a Long History

Crocuses are modest plants. They require little room, little ceremony and relatively little care. Yet they have followed human civilization for thousands of years — from the saffron fields of the ancient Mediterranean to monastery gardens, European estates, cottage lawns and modern American backyards.

Plant the spring-flowering sorts in autumn. Give them sunshine and drainage. Leave their foliage until it dies naturally. Put them where they can multiply.

Then wait.

On some cold morning when winter seems to have overstayed its welcome, a small purple or golden flower will appear almost at ground level.

The calendar may still say winter.

The crocus knows better.

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Salmon Impression Darwin Hybrid Tulip: Spring in the Color of a Sunset

 

 Some tulips are red. Some are pink. Some are orange.

‘Salmon Impression’ seems unwilling to choose.

Its great goblet-shaped flowers mingle salmon, apricot and warm pink, with paler rose-pink edges and subtle changes of color as the blossoms mature. The flowers tend to open with stronger apricot tones and gradually become pinker with age. Look inside and there is another surprise: a cool steel-blue base hidden beneath all that warmth.

It is a remarkably romantic flower—not sugary pink, not fiery orange, but something between the two, like the color of the western sky shortly before sunset.

And because ‘Salmon Impression’ is a Darwin Hybrid, all that delicacy of color comes on a plant of considerable substance.

What Type of Tulip Is ‘Salmon Impression’?

‘Salmon Impression’ belongs to the Darwin Hybrid class, one of the finest groups of tulips for landscape planting.

Darwin Hybrids are descended from crosses between old Darwin tulips and Tulipa fosteriana. The resulting plants combine enormous flowers with tall, strong stems and, under favorable conditions, a greater tendency to return in subsequent years than many other modern garden tulips.

‘Salmon Impression’ generally reaches about 20 to 24 inches tall, with large, classically shaped flowers held proudly above broad green foliage. Some descriptions give flower sizes approaching six inches when fully developed.

This is not a little tulip for peering at on your knees.

It has presence.

When Was ‘Salmon Impression’ Introduced?

There is some conflicting information in the horticultural trade about its introduction date. One current Dutch source gives 2010, but multiple specialist references identify ‘Salmon Impression’ as having been introduced in 2000. More importantly, those sources also identify its origin: it arose as a sport of the celebrated Darwin Hybrid ‘Pink Impression’.

Because the 2000 date is independently repeated by specialist bulb sources and accompanied by the cultivar's parentage, I would use 2000 for a catalog or blog history, while acknowledging that some modern records give a later date.

The original mutation changed the flower color while retaining the impressive stature and flower form associated with ‘Pink Impression’.

That family resemblance is still easy to see.

Who Introduced It?

Here the documentary trail becomes less satisfactory.

I can establish confidently that ‘Salmon Impression’ originated as a sport of ‘Pink Impression’ and was in commercial cultivation by about 2000, but I have not found a sufficiently authoritative cultivar record identifying the individual breeder or nursery responsible for discovering and introducing the sport.

Rather than assign the flower to somebody on the strength of an unsupported internet listing, I would leave the originator unnamed until a Dutch registration record establishes it.

Tulip history has accumulated enough invented certainty already.

Why Is It Called ‘Salmon Impression’?

The name is wonderfully descriptive.

The “Impression” portion connects it with its parent, ‘Pink Impression’, and the famous family of Impression Darwin Hybrids.

“Salmon” describes the transformation.

But this isn't the rather dull salmon color sometimes encountered on old bathroom tile. The flower contains an extraordinarily warm blend of salmon-pink, apricot and rose. As the blossom matures, the balance between those colors changes.

That changing color gives a mass planting particular depth.

Some flowers may appear more apricot.

Others are decidedly pink.

Still others fall almost perfectly between the two.

The result is a planting that looks harmonious without looking mechanically uniform.

The Romance of Salmon Pink

There is something particularly gentle about salmon-colored flowers.

Scarlet demands attention.

Yellow sparkles.

Purple brings depth and mystery.

Salmon glows.

In early morning, ‘Salmon Impression’ can look soft and rosy. Under the stronger light of afternoon, its apricot warmth becomes more apparent. Toward evening, when sunlight becomes golden, a bed of these tulips can seem almost illuminated from within.

That is where the romance of this tulip lies.

It doesn't merely possess a color.

It responds to light.

A Tulip Made for the Landscape

Darwin Hybrids were practically made for large garden displays.

Their height, strong stems and enormous flowers allow them to be seen from a considerable distance. ‘Salmon Impression’ is specifically recommended for landscape planting, mass planting and cutting.

Plant ten and you have a handsome group.

Plant twenty-five and you begin to understand the cultivar.

Plant fifty or a hundred and the landscape changes.

A broad drift of salmon-pink tulips rising through fresh green foliage can create a pool of warm color that draws the eye from across the garden.

For an informal landscape, avoid straight lines. Plant generous irregular groups and allow their edges to mingle.

The flowers are stately enough.

Their arrangement needn't stand at attention.

Plant Them Along a Walk

‘Salmon Impression’ is particularly effective along a garden walk.

At roughly two feet tall, the flowers rise sufficiently high to make an impressive display while remaining close enough for their subtler coloring to be appreciated.

This is important.

From fifty feet away, you see salmon-pink.

From five feet away, you begin seeing apricot, rose, pale pink and the extraordinary blue-toned base inside the flower.

A winding path with broad colonies of ‘Salmon Impression’ appearing at intervals could be magnificent.

And because the cultivar flowers in mid- to late spring, the surrounding garden will already be filling rapidly with green.

Against that background, the warm flowers glow.

Salmon and Deep Purple

One of the richest combinations is salmon with deep purple.

A dark purple tulip planted among ‘Salmon Impression’ gives the border visual depth and makes the lighter flowers seem almost luminous.

Plum and burgundy work beautifully for the same reason.

I would use the dark color sparingly—perhaps one dark group for every two or three groups of salmon.

The object is contrast, not combat.

‘Salmon Impression’ should remain the star.

Salmon and Cream

For a quieter and more romantic planting, combine ‘Salmon Impression’ with cream or ivory.

This softens the entire scheme.

Cream connects naturally with the pale portions of the salmon flowers, while the apricot and pink provide warmth.

The combination would be especially handsome beside old brick, weathered stone, a white-painted fence or traditional architecture.

There is nothing fashionable about such a color scheme.

That is precisely why it won't go out of fashion.

Salmon and Blue

Blue is another natural companion.

Low blue flowers such as forget-me-nots or grape hyacinths can create a cool carpet beneath the tall salmon-colored tulips.

The contrast is particularly effective because the blue remains low while ‘Salmon Impression’ provides the vertical element.

And there is a delightful little secret here.

The hidden steel-blue base inside the tulip itself subtly repeats the blue at its feet.

Most visitors will never consciously notice the connection.

They will simply think the planting looks right.

Some of the best garden design works that way.

Plant It Among Perennials

‘Salmon Impression’ also belongs naturally in the perennial border.

Plant the bulbs between herbaceous perennials that emerge relatively late in spring. The tulips provide color while the perennials are still developing.

Then the exchange begins.

The tulips finish flowering.

Their foliage starts to yellow.

The neighboring perennials expand and gradually hide the declining leaves.

By early summer, the tulips have disappeared and the perennial garden has taken their place.

Nothing looks empty because the same ground has been asked to perform twice.

Good gardens are economical with space, even when they look extravagant.

A Natural Companion for Spring-Flowering Shrubs

The warm coloring also works beautifully beneath spring-flowering shrubs.

Imagine a drift of ‘Salmon Impression’ beneath white-flowering shrubs or against the fresh green foliage of deciduous azaleas.

Pale pink flowering shrubs can create a softer, tonal effect.

The tulips occupy the lower level of the landscape while the shrubs provide height behind them.

The important thing is sunlight. Darwin Hybrids perform best when they receive plenty of it, especially if you hope the bulbs will return in later years.

Don't Be Afraid of Large Numbers

This cultivar rewards generosity.

A complicated multicolored tulip can sometimes become overwhelming when planted by the hundred.

‘Salmon Impression’ does the opposite.

Its related shades of pink, salmon and apricot become more beautiful as the planting grows larger.

Imagine a great sweep of them running through a border.

The individual flowers provide slight variations in color, while repetition unifies the whole planting.

From a distance it becomes a ribbon of warm salmon.

Up close it dissolves into hundreds of individual goblets, each catching the light a little differently.

That is exactly what a good mass planting should do.

Beautiful in Containers

Although its tall stature makes ‘Salmon Impression’ primarily a landscape tulip, it can also be impressive in large containers.

The key word is large.

A tall Darwin Hybrid emerging from a tiny flowerpot can look rather like a church steeple mounted on a teacup.

Use a substantial urn, broad terracotta pot or other container with enough visual weight to balance the flowers.

Plant generously and keep the color scheme simple.

A large pot filled entirely with ‘Salmon Impression’ can be far more effective than an overly complicated assortment.

Place it against a wall, beside an entrance or on a terrace where the flowers catch morning or evening light.

An Exceptional Cut Flower

The long, strong stems and enormous blooms also make ‘Salmon Impression’ an excellent cut flower. Professional growers specifically recommend the cultivar for cut-flower production.

And this is where its subtle coloring becomes particularly valuable.

Indoors, you can see what isn't obvious from across the garden: the transition from apricot through salmon to pink, the pale petal edges and the contrasting base inside the flower.

A vase containing only ‘Salmon Impression’ needs very little assistance.

Add cream flowers for softness.

Deep plum for drama.

Or nothing at all.

Sometimes a dozen tulips and an old glass vase are sufficient.

One of the Better Tulips for Returning

Perhaps the greatest practical virtue of ‘Salmon Impression’ is its Darwin Hybrid ancestry.

Darwin Hybrids are among the modern tulips most likely to return and flower for multiple seasons under favorable conditions. ‘Salmon Impression’ itself is described by professional bulb growers as reliable, long-lasting and particularly capable of perennializing.

That doesn't mean it should be treated like a daffodil.

No modern tulip comes with a lifetime contract.

But if you want a large-flowered garden tulip with a reasonable chance of returning, Darwin Hybrids are among the best places to start.

Give It What It Needs to Come Back

Plant the bulbs in autumn in a sunny location with excellent drainage.

Professional growers recommend planting Darwin Hybrids about 6 to 8 inches deep and approximately 6 inches apart.

If you hope for repeat flowering, don't cut the foliage after bloom.

Deadhead the spent flowers so the plant doesn't waste energy producing seed, but allow every green leaf to remain until it yellows and dies naturally. That foliage is manufacturing the food that replenishes the bulb underground.

And avoid excessively wet soil during summer dormancy.

Tulips come from ancestors accustomed to climates where spring moisture is followed by relatively dry summers.

A dormant bulb appreciates a rest.

It does not require a bath.

A Sunset Captured in a Tulip

‘Salmon Impression’ combines two qualities that do not always occur together.

It is powerful and gentle.

The plant itself is substantial: tall stems, enormous flowers, strong Darwin Hybrid growth and enough presence for great landscape plantings.

Yet the color is soft.

Salmon melts into apricot. Apricot becomes pink. Pale rose touches the petal edges, while a hidden steel-blue heart waits inside.

Plant it beside cream for elegance.

Set it against purple for drama.

Let blue forget-me-nots gather at its feet.

Or plant a hundred bulbs in a great sweeping drift and allow that warm salmon color to flow through the spring landscape.

There are tulips that look best at noon.

‘Salmon Impression’ deserves to be seen toward evening, when the sun is low and the light turns golden.

Then the flowers seem less like something planted in the garden and more like something borrowed from the sunset.

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Orange Princess Double Late Tulip: A Royal Flame in the Late-Spring Garden

 

There are orange tulips, and then there is ‘Orange Princess’.

Calling it orange hardly does it justice. Its great, many-petaled flowers mingle warm orange and apricot with reddish-purple flames, occasional touches of pink, a yellow glow near the base, and even hints of green along the outer petals. As the flowers unfold, those colors seem to shift with the light.

It is not a quiet tulip.

Nor should it be.

‘Orange Princess’ belongs to the Double Late tulips—the great peony-flowered varieties that bring the tulip season toward its extravagant conclusion. By the time it blooms, spring is no longer tentative. The trees are green, perennial borders are awakening, and the garden is approaching that brief, wonderful interval when nearly everything seems possible.

Into all that fresh green comes ‘Orange Princess’, glowing like a small flame.

A Dutch Princess Born in 1983

‘Orange Princess’ was introduced in the Netherlands in 1983. The cultivar is credited to C. J. Zonneveld & Sons together with W. B. & Th. Reus.

That makes it a relatively modern tulip, but its ancestry reaches farther back.

‘Orange Princess’ originated as a double-flowered sport of the famous tulip ‘Prinses Irene’—usually known to English-speaking gardeners as ‘Princess Irene’.

A sport is a spontaneous mutation that causes part of a plant to develop differently from the original. If the new characteristic is stable and desirable, growers can propagate that altered plant vegetatively and preserve it as a new cultivar.

In this case, the result was remarkable.

The elegant orange-and-purple coloring of ‘Princess Irene’ reappeared in a much fuller flower, with layer upon layer of petals.

The princess had acquired a considerably more elaborate wardrobe.

Why Is It Called ‘Orange Princess’?

The name follows naturally from its parentage.

Because it is a double-flowered sport of ‘Princess Irene’, the name ‘Orange Princess’ preserves both the royal association and the flower's predominant orange coloring.

And “orange” here does not mean a flat, unvarying shade.

The flowers have been described as rich orange with garnet-red or reddish-purple flames, yellow toward the base and occasional green tips on the outer petals.

That complexity is precisely what makes the flower interesting.

From across the garden, you see orange.

Walk closer and another flower appears entirely.

What Type of Tulip Is ‘Orange Princess’?

‘Orange Princess’ is a Double Late tulip.

The Double Late class contains some of the most sumptuous flowers in the tulip world. Their blossoms contain so many petals that they are commonly called peony-flowered tulips.

‘Orange Princess’ typically grows about 12 to 16 inches tall, with great double flowers carried on relatively short stems. Dutch professional records place it firmly in the Double Late group and describe its flowering period as late.

That combination of a relatively compact plant and an enormous flower gives ‘Orange Princess’ much of its character.

It does not tower above the garden.

It sits among the spring foliage like a great bowl of glowing petals.

A Flower Made for Close Inspection

This is one tulip that deserves to be planted where people can see it closely.

At a distance, the orange makes the impression.

Up close, the details take over.

The reddish-purple flames become apparent. The outer petals may show green. The yellow base warms the center of the flower, while the multiple layers of petals create shadow and depth.

And because individual flowers vary slightly, a group of ‘Orange Princess’ tulips doesn't look like a row of identical manufactured objects.

One may be more orange.

Another may show stronger purple markings.

Another may reveal more green.

That slight unpredictability gives a planting life.

How to Use ‘Orange Princess’ in the Landscape

Because it is comparatively short, ‘Orange Princess’ is best placed toward the front or middle of a border.

It is especially handsome beside a walkway, where the complicated coloring can be appreciated at close range.

Its compact stature also makes it useful beneath deciduous shrubs and among emerging perennials, provided neighboring plants do not overwhelm it.

And then there is the obvious choice: plant it in groups.

One ‘Orange Princess’ is beautiful.

Three are interesting.

Twenty-five begin to look like something spring itself intended.

For an informal garden, plant the bulbs in irregular drifts rather than straight rows. Allow one group to flow into another, with a few bulbs wandering toward the edges.

A princess may require good breeding.

She needn't stand in formation.

Plant It Against Green

Sometimes the finest companion for an elaborate flower is simply foliage.

‘Orange Princess’ looks magnificent against fresh spring green.

Its own flowers already contain orange, red-purple, yellow and occasional green. There is no urgent need to introduce half the color wheel beside it.

Plant it among emerging perennials or in front of shrubs whose young foliage creates a calm background.

The green allows those extraordinary flowers to do the talking.

Orange and Deep Purple

If you do want another strong color, deep purple is one of the finest choices.

The purple echoes the darker flames within the ‘Orange Princess’ flowers while contrasting dramatically with the orange.

Deep burgundy can work equally well.

A broad drift of ‘Orange Princess’ with smaller groups of dark purple tulips appearing through it can create a remarkably rich late-spring planting.

The trick is restraint.

Let the orange dominate and use the dark color as punctuation.

Orange and Blue

Blue provides a very different effect.

Low-growing blue flowers beneath ‘Orange Princess’ create a classic complementary contrast. Forget-me-nots can be particularly charming if their flowering periods coincide.

The blue forms a cool carpet while the great orange flowers rise above it.

This combination works especially well in cottage gardens, where the little blue flowers can wander somewhat freely between the tulips.

It looks less designed and more discovered.

That is often the better compliment.

Try It With Cream

For a softer and rather more sophisticated combination, pair ‘Orange Princess’ with cream or warm white.

Cream takes some of the heat out of the orange without making the planting cold.

The result can be especially handsome near traditional architecture—old brick, stone, weathered wood or a white-painted fence.

Apricot and peach flowers can also be added to create a warm tonal planting, progressing from cream through peach and orange to the reddish-purple flames of ‘Orange Princess’.

In late-afternoon light, such a border can positively glow.

A Natural Choice for the Cottage Garden

There is something almost old-fashioned about Double Late tulips despite the comparatively recent introduction of ‘Orange Princess’.

Perhaps it is their resemblance to peonies.

Perhaps it is simply their extravagance.

Either way, ‘Orange Princess’ belongs beautifully in a cottage-style border among emerging perennials.

Plant it along an old brick path, near peonies that will flower later, or among hardy geraniums and other perennials that will expand as the tulips decline.

The tulips provide the spring performance.

Then, as their flowers fade, the surrounding plants gradually take over and conceal the yellowing foliage.

A good garden should have succession.

One flower bows while another walks onto the stage.

Splendid in Containers

‘Orange Princess’ is exceptionally well suited to containers.

Its relatively short stature keeps the plant in proportion to the pot, while its enormous double flowers provide more than enough drama. Horticultural references specifically recommend it for pots, and its compact growth has also made it useful for forcing.

A broad terracotta pot filled entirely with ‘Orange Princess’ would be difficult to improve upon.

Terracotta is particularly appropriate because its warm earthy color complements the orange flowers.

For contrast, add a few low blue violas or forget-me-nots.

Or plant nothing else.

Royalty doesn't always require an entourage.

A Magnificent Cut Flower

‘Orange Princess’ also makes a memorable cut flower.

Those enormous peony-like blossoms can reach roughly four inches across, making only a few stems sufficient for an impressive arrangement.

The flowers are complex enough that they need little accompaniment.

Put five or seven stems into a simple vase and allow them to open naturally.

As tulips continue growing and bending after cutting, the arrangement will gradually change. Straight stems become graceful curves, closed flowers become great bowls of petals, and the purple and green markings become increasingly apparent.

It is less a flower arrangement than a performance lasting several days.

Give Those Heavy Flowers Some Shelter

There is one practical consideration.

Double Late tulips carry a great many petals.

A flower filled with petals becomes considerably heavier after a hard rain, and strong winds can bend stems or damage the blossoms. ‘Orange Princess’ is relatively compact, which helps, but a somewhat sheltered site is still preferable.

A border near the house, courtyard, sheltered garden walk or protected perennial bed can be ideal.

The flower's extravagance is its virtue.

It is also its luggage.

Growing ‘Orange Princess’

Plant the bulbs in autumn in fertile, well-drained soil.

A sunny position is best, although some light shade can be tolerated. A planting depth of roughly 6 inches and spacing of about 4 to 6 inches works well for ordinary garden use.

For a richer first-year display, plant somewhat more closely in containers or dedicated bulb beds.

Good drainage matters enormously.

Tulips are remarkably tolerant of winter cold while dormant, but bulbs sitting in persistently waterlogged soil are liable to rot.

After flowering, remove the spent flowers if you intend to retain the bulbs, but leave the foliage until it turns yellow naturally.

Those untidy leaves are replenishing the bulb.

Spring beauty occasionally sends us a bill afterward.

An Award-Winning Princess

‘Orange Princess’ has not survived in cultivation merely because of an attractive name.

Its garden qualities have been formally recognized with the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

That is significant because the cultivar is more than a novelty.

It combines manageable height, extraordinary double flowers, unusual coloring and versatility in borders, containers and cutting gardens.

More than forty years after its 1983 introduction, it remains a distinctive tulip.

A Little Royal Extravagance

There is a moment late in spring when ‘Orange Princess’ reaches perfection.

The buds have opened into great peony-like flowers. Afternoon sunlight passes through the orange petals. Purple flames emerge from their folds. A little yellow glows near the heart of the flower, while touches of green seem to connect the blossoms to the garden around them.

Plant them along an old brick walk.

Let them rise among fresh perennial foliage.

Fill a great terracotta pot beside the front steps.

Or plant a generous drift and allow the whole bed to burn orange beneath the spring sun.

‘Orange Princess’ is not the tulip for a gardener seeking restraint.

It is warm, elaborate, slightly theatrical and unapologetically beautiful.

Spring, after all, has been restrained all winter.

By the time ‘Orange Princess’ flowers, it deserves a little extravagance.

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