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Tulipa greigii
There are such a lot of tulips in the marketplace. After I first began researching them years in the past for my very own backyard, I finally threw up my fingers and simply picked those that had the prettiest photos on their packages.
However I’m a lot pickier now and I do know that if I wish to fill a particular house, I would like to seek out the right species.
After I want a tulip that’s low-growing and supplies long-lasting curiosity within the type of foliage and flowers, my go-to is Greig’s tulip, or Tulipa greigii.
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In case you have desires of a discipline of tulips, this one is an ideal choice.
It naturalizes readily with out turning into invasive. And it’s excellent as a border plant, so as to add life to a rock backyard, and even for show in containers.
A part of what makes this selection implausible is that the crops can produce as much as three flowers per bulb, that means you get a dense cluster of blossoms with only a few specimens.
In the event you reside in USDA Hardiness Zones 3b to 8a, you’ll be able to develop these quick queens – and this information will focus on cultivation particulars.
Right here’s what I’ll cowl:
The earlier we get began, the earlier we will begin having fun with our crops, so let’s dive proper in!
What Is Greig’s Tulip?
Greig’s tulips are crops of the Tulipa greigii species. The crops develop to a few foot tall when in bloom in early to mid-spring.
Every single, cup-shaped flower is held on an extended stalk, they usually’re usually crimson, salmon, yellow, orange, white, or a mixture. A single bulb can produce as much as three flower stalks.
The leaves have a stunning variegated inexperienced and reddish-purple sample. These are rectangular or lanceolate, alternate, and clasping – which suggests they encompass the stem.
And these patterns differ wildly. That’s as a result of they’re attributable to a viral an infection. If you are going to buy a plant with a sample that you simply love, you’ll be able to’t rely on it being efficiently recreated 12 months after 12 months.
These tulips are smaller than the extra frequent hybrids that most individuals select for his or her gardens.
You may image Holland whenever you think about these flowers working wild, however this species is indigenous to Kyrgyzstan within the North and West Tien Shan mountains.
Sadly, they’re endangered of their native dwelling due to overgrazing and livestock visitors, in addition to poaching.
Cultivation and Historical past
Greig’s tulip was first recognized in Turkestan and despatched to Russia, the place it was described by botanist and horticulturist Eduard August von Regel in 1877.
The precise epithet is a reference to Samuel Greig, a frontrunner of the Russian navy and president of the Russian Horticultural Society within the 1700s.
This was the primary species of tulip to be launched into business cultivation.
Greig’s Tulip Propagation
Bulbs must be planted within the fall for early spring blossoms.
Earlier than planting, put together your soil. These crops do greatest in loamy, unfastened soil, or barely sandy soil.
They gained’t do nicely in any respect in heavy clay, poorly draining soil. However in case you have soil that’s too sandy or too dense with clay, both may be remedied by working in plenty of well-rotted compost.
Place the bulbs six inches aside and 4 inches deep. You may cluster them a bit nearer if you’d like, however additional spacing helps to spotlight the leaves.
The crops can develop up a foot huge and crowding them collectively will press the leaves collectively, impeding airflow.
After you’ve had your crops within the floor for a number of years, you’ll be able to divide them.
Easy methods to Develop Greig’s Tulips
Plant your bulbs in full solar. They flower greatest once they have six hours or extra of daylight per day.
The leaves, that are admittedly beautiful in their very own proper, will nonetheless emerge in shadier conditions, however the flowers gained’t bloom.
These crops don’t do nicely as soon as temperatures climb above 70°F, which is why they gained’t thrive in Zones 8b and above.
If you wish to develop tulips in hotter areas, reminiscent of in Zones 8b and 9, search for bulbs which were cold-treated and deal with them as annuals.
The soil must be well-draining and wealthy, ideally with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5.
And once more, this isn’t the plant for terribly sandy or heavy clay areas. In case you have your coronary heart set on rising Greigii tulips and you’ve got less-than-ideal soil, develop them in containers or raised beds as an alternative.
The soil must be allowed to dry out a bit between watering. In the event you stick your finger into the soil, it ought to really feel dry midway down the size of the bulb. If it’s any wetter, don’t complement with water.
There’s a variety of data on the market about how and when to feed tulips.
Most specialists agree that it must be completed within the fall, and I discover my crops do higher once I feed them then. That manner, the growing bulbs have all of the vitamins they want for blooming in spring.
In the event you’re rising them as annuals, don’t fear about fertilizing. Equally, don’t feed the bulbs within the first 12 months after planting.
They’ve all of the vitamins they want constructed proper in whenever you first plant them, and it’s solely within the following years that they’ll want a lift.
Within the fall, costume the bottom above and across the bulbs with a granular meals.
Jobe’s Organics Granular Fertilizer
Make life straightforward on your self and use a meals made for bulbs like Jobe’s Organics, which is out there at Amazon in four-pound baggage.
Rising Ideas
- Plant in full solar for the perfect flowering.
- Water when the soil has dried to midway down the bulb.
- Feed within the fall after the primary 12 months with granular fertilizer.
Pruning and Upkeep
The flowers emerge in early to mid-spring and stick round for a number of weeks. As soon as the flowers fade, go forward and take away the flower stalks.
Wait till the leaves are totally yellow or brown within the late spring for elimination. Gently pull them away from the plant.
In the event that they resist, depart them a bit longer. The leaves present vitamins to maintain the bulb, so when you lower them off or pull them prematurely, you deprive the bulbs of vitamins.
Greig’s Tulip Cultivars to Choose
There are various cultivars on the market, and new ones are hitting the market on a regular basis. I’ve but to run into one which didn’t develop nicely for me, however listed below are a number of standouts:
Cape Cod
Apricot petals edged in golden yellow pop up on 10-inch-tall stems in early spring, making for a fiery show.
Like all Greig’s tulips, ‘Cape Cod’ naturalizes readily with out turning into invasive, so let it take over a naked patch of the backyard.
Easter Shock
Come Easter time, you’ll get pleasure from these lemon yellow flowers tipped in an ombre of salmon pink and crimson.
The crops keep below eight inches tall and sports activities maroon-tinted leaves.
Oratorio
‘Oratorio’ is on the petite aspect, rising to about six inches tall or so, so these bulbs are excellent as a low border.
They bloom a number of weeks sooner than a variety of cultivars, however earlier than the salmon pink blossoms pop up, you get to benefit from the purple-marked foliage.
‘Oratorio’
Discover packages of eight bulbs at Walmart.
Pink Driving Hood
‘Pink Driving Hood’ has placing scarlet blossoms with only a trace of peach on the surface base of the petals.
Inside, the petals are accented in black on the base. And the reddish-purple leaves act as the right accent for the daring blossoms.
Zampa
The creamy yellow petals with a watercolor stripe of orange-red down the outer heart spotlight a border or stun as a mass planting.
‘Zampa’ stays below eight inches tall.
Managing Pests and Illness
I’ve repeatedly heard the declare that as a result of crops within the Tulipa genus include some poisonous compounds, herbivores gained’t eat them. Effectively, somebody wants to inform that to the deer and voles in my neck of the woods.
Whereas herbivores are my largest problem, pests and illness can be an issue. Let’s speak about these hungry herbivores first.
Herbivores
Traditionally, people have eaten tulip bulbs throughout instances of famine. So it ought to come as no shock that herbivores will goal them.
Nonetheless, I’m all the time shocked by how a lot the squirrels, deer, and mice will go after the bulbs.
Deer
If persimmons are “deer sweet,” tulips are “deer veggies.” Ungulates will devour the leaves, flowers, and even the bulbs throughout instances of shortage.
I as soon as watched a herd of deer shifting by my winter backyard, and I marveled at their magnificence and sleek motion within the snow-filled dormant backyard.
However once they began pawing on the floor and pulling up my tulip bulbs – they weren’t so cute then!
In case you have deer in your space, then you realize the perfect management is exclusion. Learn our information to learn to preserve deer out of your tulip beds.
Mice, Squirrels, and Voles
Rodents like mice, squirrels, and voles will devour the bulbs, whether or not they discover them in storage or dig them up from the bottom.
Voles will discover the bulbs whereas tunneling underground, squirrels will dig them up, and mice will make the most of shallow bulbs.
Generally, I simply chalk it as much as the price of gardening once I lose a number of bulbs. But when the rodents begin to destroy your backyard, the best choice is to maneuver your crops into containers.
In the event you can’t stand the considered potting up these flowers, you’ll be able to bury wire mesh below and across the mattress. Raised beds make the work simpler, however you are able to do this within the floor, too.
Then, bury the bulbs an inch or two deeper than you usually would. This may be sufficient to discourage tiny squirrel and mouse paws.
Some gardeners report that repellants work. They by no means have for me, however within the battle towards the four-legged marauders, we shouldn’t depart any instruments on the shelf.
Bugs
There are two major pests that usually go to Greig’s tulips. Aphids are much less frequent, whereas slugs and snails are frequent foes.
Aphids
In the event you’ve by no means handled aphids earlier than, it’s solely a matter of time. They’re extraordinarily frequent within the backyard, although I don’t discover them to be significantly frequent on tulips.
These bugs are small and oval formed, they usually use their sucking mouthparts to withdraw the sap from the leaves and stems of the plant. They usually wish to cluster in areas the place they’ll conceal, like the bottom of leaves or proper below the flower heads.
I often discover I can management aphids by spraying them off with a gentle stream of water. Do that each few days. If that’s not sufficient, go to our information to be taught different methods of the best way to management aphids.
Slugs and Snails
Slugs and snails will flip the leaves into lace. They’ll even kill a plant if it’s younger sufficient.
With massive, well-established bulbs, slugs and snails can eat the plant to the bottom and stop it from flowering that 12 months, although it could be robust sufficient to return the next 12 months.
For management, I simply follow unhazardous slug bait, like Sluggo, out there from Arbico Organics.
Sluggo Snail Bait
It’s essentially the most dependable choice for maintaining mollusks away from high-value crops like tulips.
You may be taught extra about the best way to take care of slugs and snails in our information.
Illness
Greig’s tulips are significantly robust on the subject of ailments – apart from the virus that provides them their distinct look. When a few of my showier hybrids are flailing, they’re nonetheless going robust.
These crops can contract a number of fungal points, however this usually solely occurs when crops are burdened or rising in less-than-ideal circumstances.
The first ailment that you simply may see with tulips is Botrytis blight.
Botrytis Blight
Botrytis blight, additionally referred to as tulip fireplace, is a standard illness within the backyard. Brought on by fungi within the Botrytis genus, B. tulipae is a tulip-specific fungus.
The fungus thrives in cool, moist circumstances. A pleasant, lengthy stretch of overcast skies with loads of rain and humidity over 80 % is simply the factor this pathogen wants.
However even which may not be sufficient for the illness to unfold all through your backyard. It’ll generally look ahead to a bit of injury to sneak in – hailstorm, pest injury, or mechanical injury leaves the plant uncovered.
Signs embrace twisted, distorted leaves, shoots that don’t unfurl, small spots on leaves and petals, and in extreme circumstances, massive sunken scabby areas.
Because the illness worsens, you’ll see massive lesions on the leaves and grey mildew may seem on the decrease a part of the plant and on the bulbs, inflicting them to rot – whether or not in storage or underground.
Avoiding this drawback begins with shopping for from respected sellers who assure disease-free bulbs.
Be extraordinarily cautious when planting or when lifting the bulbs for storage to keep away from damaging them. In the event you come throughout a bulb that appears moldy, eliminate it within the rubbish, not the compost.
Keep away from overwatering and overcrowding your crops to enhance air circulation.
Whilst you’re at it, you may simply wish to pack up and transfer someplace dry and sunny throughout the spring as a result of – and I hate to be the one to inform you this – there is no such thing as a treatment for tulip fireplace.
There’s no treatment and it tends to worsen 12 months after 12 months. However you’ll be able to restrict the unfold by eradicating symptomatic leaves and stems as quickly as they begin to fade.
You may soak the soil or spray the bulbs with a fungicide, each as a preventative and to gradual the unfold.
My go-to is Mycostop, which harnesses the ability of the useful micro organism Streptomyces pressure K61.
Mycostop Biofungicide
Arbico Organics carries it in five- or 25-gram packets. Observe the instructions intently for grey mildew.
Greatest Makes use of for Greig’s Tulips
A single plant is cute, however these tulips make the largest affect whenever you group them collectively. You can too drive them to bloom indoors throughout the winter for some shade.
Greigii tulips may be grown in containers, lawns, rock gardens, and lower flower gardens, naturalized, grouped en masse, or grown as border crops.
The draw back of tulips is that they disappear in the summertime, leaving naked soil of their place.
Throughout the dormant months, don’t hesitate to plant one thing over the bulbs. Shallow-rooted annuals like cosmos, petunias, phlox, candy alyssum, and zinnias make nice picks.
Fast Reference Rising Information
Plant Sort: | Perennial flowering bulb | Flower / Foliage Shade: | Pink, pink, yellow, white, bicolored/inexperienced, variegated |
Native to: | Kyrgyzstan | Water Wants: | Reasonable |
Hardiness (USDA Zone): | 3b-8a | Upkeep: | Low |
Bloom Time / Season: | Spring | Tolerance: | Gentle frost, some drought |
Time to Maturity: | 1 12 months | Soil Sort: | Unfastened, wealthy, barely sandy |
Publicity: | Full solar | Soil pH: | 6.0-6.5 |
Spacing: | 6 inches | Soil Drainage: | Effectively-draining |
Planting Depth: | 4 inches | Companion Planting: | Cosmos, petunias, phlox, candy alyssum, zinnias |
Top: | 12 inches | Keep away from Planting With: | Deep-rooted perennials |
Unfold: | 4 inches | Household: | Liliaceae |
Development Fee: | Quick | Genus: | Tulipa |
Widespread Pests and Ailments: | Aphilds, deer, mice, squirrels, voles; tulip fireplace | Species: | Greigii |
These Tulips Are a Deal with
As a lot as I really like tulips, I’ve to confess that rising them could be a little bit of a letdown exterior of the few weeks that they’re in bloom.
However the striped, huge leaves add a component of curiosity to the backyard throughout the rising season.
What’s interesting about Greig’s tulips for you? Is it their dimension? The leaves? One thing else? Tell us within the feedback.
Are you aware what’s even higher than a mattress stuffed with Greig’s tulips? A backyard stuffed with a number of species!
If that sounds good to you, learn a few of our different guides to rising totally different beauties within the Tulipa genus, reminiscent of:
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