As temperatures (finally!) warm up, spring-flowering bulbs begin to pop. One of the most quintessential spring flowers is the tulip. First cultivated thousands of years ago, tulips have remained popular because of their exquisite form, gorgeous colors and classic beauty. They also make stunning cut flowers.
I adore tulips because you’ll find them in an array of colors from purest white to deepest burgundy. There’s one for every taste! They have single, double or frilly petals and come in heights ranging from 10 to 30 inches tall. They bloom early, mid or late spring so you may have tulips in bloom from March to May, depending on where you live.
Like all spring-flowering bulbs, planting tulips is an exercise in delayed gratification. While you may see tulips in bloom in spring, you must plant them in the fall. That’s because they require a period of vernalization, or exposure to cold, in order to form buds to bloom next spring.
