Tulip Economics Some diversity and a few tricks will keep them coming back. By Rachel Foster It's hard to beat tulips for garden impact. Nothing that blooms so early in the year has larger flowers or comes in such a ravishing variety of shades. The only trouble with tulips is their tendency to behave as expensive annuals. There are ways to increase the chances of tulips coming back a second year, but let's face it, they usually don't. And at 50 or 60 cents a piece, you'd really like to see them more than once. But here is an instance where procrastination pays. Tulips often go on sale in late November. Unlike many other bulbs, tulips don't suffer from late planting, especially if you are not counting on them to be perennial, so there is still plenty of time to get them in the ground. Provided they look and feel perfectly sound, bargain tulip bulbs really are a bargain. And with their large flowers and showy colors, it doesn't take many bulbs to make a big impression. Here is my strategy for stretching a tulip budget. First, buy a few so-called rock-garden tulips. Unlike many hybrids, these species tulips can stay with you for years, given a sunny location, and not all of them require the extreme drainage of a rock garden. Kaufmanniana tulips (Shakespeare, Waterlily and Stresa, for example) are a particularly good value. The flowers are large and the bulbs multiply well in any decent soil that doesn't get water-logged. Next, try to ensure your tulip choices will bloom at different times. Kauffmanianas bloom very early. Emperor tulips are next in line; they are taller and larger, and somewhat perennial. They come in shades of red, orange, yellow and cream. They are followed by Single Early tulips, then most of the Triumph varieties. Both come in a big color range, and include the most fragrant tulips available. Don't count on seeing any of them again, however. Of the tulips that bloom in late April and May, Darwin Hybrids (not to be confused with plain Darwin tulips, now classified as Single Lates) are claimed to be the most persistent in the garden. Personally, I find their flowers over-large and rather graceless, but they are undeniably showy. Single Late and May-flowering tulips (including Fringed, Parrot, and Lily Flowering types) may be the best investment of all. Besides offering the greatest range of colors, these elegant tulips also boast the longest-lasting flowers. Barring hail, wind and unseasonably warm weather, individual blooms can last for weeks. Their graceful proportions, durability and tall stems make them ideal for vases, too. Some varieties are as perennial as Darwin Hybrids, so try leaving a clump or two of your favorites in the ground -- and remember to fertilize them while the leaves are growing. Tulips grow very well in containers, and one of the best ways to enjoy a scant half-dozen bulbs is to put them in a pot near the house where you will see them often. After doing this for years in several yards, I've discovered that the bulbs of most varieties, if grown in a pot in the garden and allowed to die down naturally after flowering, will return to bloom again another year. They won't be as big or as uniform the second year, but they will bloom, with a frequency much greater than for bulbs grown in the ground. (This is not true for bulbs that have been "forced" for early bloom.) It makes no difference how large the container is or what it's made of, provided it drains freely. You can store the container dry over the summer, or plant it with annuals and water it all summer. It doesn't seem to matter. All things considered, I suggest you turn out the pot when the tulip leaves turn brown. Remove the old bulb coats and discard anything smaller than a walnut. Save the best bulbs to plant in the ground next fall, and buy new ones for the container. That way you'll get top-notch performance from your containers every year and still get an encore from your tulip bulbs. NOVEMBER GARDENING --Plant remaining spring bulbs! --Protect winter vegetables with frames or row covers --Prepare beds for spring planting --Put frost-sensitive containers in a dry place --Cut down dying perennials’ tops --Transplant trees and shrubs --Weed and mulch unoccupied ground --Drain and store hoses --Mulch any dahlias and cannas you left in ground Back to Top Table of Contents | News & Views | Arts & Entertainment Classifieds | Personals | EW Archive