December 1st, 2020 - Pots and containers, Spring bulbs, Spring cottage garden

How can you grow tulips in a small pot?

You might think you don’t have room for pots and pots of tulips as they take up a lot of room.

By small tulips I don’t mean short ones, I mean small dainty species tulips.

These tulips like a hot sunny spot

Not all tulip bulbs are apricot-sized.  Some are the size of a grape.

A typical tulip bulb, this one is Ballerina, next to two species bulbs.

or even a cashew nut

Clusiana Chrysantha – one of the species tulips

They are called species tulips and are perfect not only for small spaces but also for being perennial.  Left in the ground they will multiply and flower for many years.

My species tulips are from bloms.co.uk 

So different from the usual big bags of onion sized tulip bulbs. Little bags of loveliness.

This pink and white one is called Peppermint Stick. Look at its slivers of leaves and pencil thin stems.

Species tulips give an informal cottage garden feel

How to plant small tulips for pots

I cram 20 or more bulbs into a pot with a diameter of 20/25 cms.

I add lots of grit and put the pots in a hot sunny place.  These below flowered in April and May. When they were over I emptied the pot and kept them dry in the shed till now when I replanted them.

Tulipa clusiana variety Chrysantha

So not all tulips look like these below.

In some years I’ve had a fantastic display of tulips, some better than others and you can see those in a previous blog here

Tulips for colour in pots and borders

So don’t think it’s too late to plant some late spring beauties – there are still bulbs available online and with some compost, some grit or sand for drainage and a pot or two there is still so much time to plant them up.

One of the joys of caring about a patch of garden is that we can always be thinking ahead if we want to.  It’s not wishing your life to pass faster, it’s an opportunity to lift thoughts out of a dark dull day into a different season.  It can be by pottering out there or sitting indoors reading a gardening book or catalogue.

Here’s to 2121 and a chance to create something nice.

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