{"id":6989,"date":"2014-11-27T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T17:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=6989"},"modified":"2014-11-26T15:52:46","modified_gmt":"2014-11-26T20:52:46","slug":"species-tulips-thrive-in-tough-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2014\/11\/27\/species-tulips-thrive-in-tough-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"Species Tulips Thrive in Tough Spots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tulipa<\/a>

Tulipa bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder'(photo from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, Gloucester, VA)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"T.<\/a>

T. ‘Peppermint Stick’ (photo from Brent and Becky’s Bulbd, Gloucester, VA)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"T.clusiana<\/a>

T. clusiana ‘Cynthia’ (photo from Brent and Becky’s Bulb in Gloucester, VA)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Species tulips (mini-tulips) are tough! In the wild they grow in the\u00a0winter environs and dry soils of Central Asia, the Middle East, and China (USDA hardiness zones 3-7). In gardens they prosper for many years in\u00a0full to partial sun and in average soil with good drainage.<\/p>\n

Over the centuries mini-tulips have been improved. Color choices include red, bright yellow, orangey-red, pink, orchid, white, and bi-colors. Bloom times vary from early thru late spring.<\/p>\n

Mini-tulips partner well with low-growing varieties of stonecrops (Sedum)<\/i>, which also thrive in\u00a0subpar soils and hot, dry sites. Avoid planting in poorly drained or soggy soils. Voles\u00a0may become a serious pest.<\/p>\n

Plant\u00a0mini-tulips at the same time you\u2019re sowing other spring-blooming bulbs from October thru December when average day temperatures are in\u00a0low 4o\u00baF range and the ground\u00a0is not frozen.\u00a0Bury them just 4-5 inches deep. No fertilizer or soil amending is needed.<\/p>\n

To maximize their potential\u00a0to naturalize, do not trim foliage after flowering ends; allow foliage to die back on its own.\u00a0 New bulblets (offsets) and new bulb should develop underground.\u00a0Mini-tulips suffer in\u00a0southern U.S. zones if winter soil temps stay too warm to initiate flowers; plants also may\u00a0germinate weakly and\u00a0not bloom.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re small\u2026 so bunch a handful in pockets in flower borders, in rock gardens, along fences or walks. Tuck some around the base of late leafing deciduous trees.<\/p>\n

Mr. Brent Heath, Brent and Becky\u2019s Bulbs in Gloucester, VA, provided the following\u00a0info:<\/p>\n

T. sylvestris<\/i> \u2013 stoloniferous, naturalizes in light shade, yellow, sweet fragrant outwardly facing flowers.<\/p>\n

T. clusiana<\/i> \u00a0var. chrysantha \u2013high desert mountain type from Iran to northern India is perfect for rock gardens; varieties \u2018Lady Jane\u2019 and \u2018Cynthia\u2019.<\/p>\n

T. whatalei<\/i> \u2013 orange cup-shape flowers in light shade (South) to full sun (North).<\/p>\n

T. bakeri<\/i> \u2013 \u2018Lilac Wonder\u2019 and \u2018Honky Tonk\u2019(soft yellow-pink hybrid) prefer full sun.<\/p>\n

T. linifolia<\/i> \u2013 dark red flowers and narrow edged leaves; ideal for sunny rock garden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Species tulips (mini-tulips) are tough! In the wild they grow in the\u00a0winter environs and dry soils of Central Asia, the Middle East, and China (USDA hardiness zones 3-7). In gardens they prosper for many years in\u00a0full to partial sun and in average soil with good drainage. Over the centuries mini-tulips have been improved. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,605,674,806,602,853,551,625,202,843,812,1059,729,777,630,705,1063,861,1189,113,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6989"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7075,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions\/7075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}