Tulips
with Patty Carlson
History
Tulips have their origins in Western culture dating back to the 16th century. They were brought to Europe from Turkey in 1554 and from Europe to England in 1578. They became a popular fashion item in France
just after 1608 when fashionable women wore bunches of tulips in their low cut dresses.
There was also a tulip craze in Europe known as “Tulipomania” between 1636 and 1637 where single bulbs were exchanged for vast sums of money. There is one documented transaction where a singe tulip bulb was bought for the equivalent of 2.8 million dollars in todays currency.
There could be a complete art history course taught on just the depiction of tulips in art. The Flemish Baroque painter Rubens (1577 - 1640) added images of tulips in some of his paintings.
Tulip dealer and German artist Jacob Marrel (1614 - 1681) was among the first Western artist to depict tulips. His watercolour on paper depictions of tulips influenced textile, furniture and utensil art.
In North America tulips were used as a motif in folk art; notably in the Pennsylvania Dutch communities. Motifs can be found on butter molds, furniture, quilts and embroideries.
For those of us who are not artists (except in our gardens) we can enjoy Tulips blooming in our garden for up to 4 months. We must plant the early, mid and late blooming varieties and have them bloom in succession.
Planting
Plant the bulb (pointy side up) in fertile, well-drained, neutral to slightly acid soil where they will receive full or at least afternoon sun. Plant between 6 and 8 inches deep as soon as early fall but as long as the soil temperature is 16 degrees celsius it is okay to plant tulip bulbs.
Tulip bulbs are naturally perennials, meaning they can come back more than once. Tulips in the ground do not like too much water or the bulbs may rot.
Care
As soon as the flower has faded and died, remove the stem and head. This will conserve the plants energy stores. When removing the stem, be careful to leave the leaves in place until they die back on their own. The leaves will continue to absorb energy from the sun and through photosynthesis the sun’s energy is converted into vital sugars that are stored in the bulb for the following season. Once all the foliage has died back and the bulb has once again become dormant, there is nothing left for you to do.
The best time to fertilize tulips is in the fall. At this time, the tulip bulbs are sending out roots to prepare for the winter and are able to take up the nutrients in the tulip bulb fertilizer. After planting the bulbs in fall, apply a balanced, 10-10-10 or 10-15-10 slow-release fertilizer. Water it in well. Apply fertilizer to the top of the soil instead of the planting hole to avoid burning the bulbs.
If you wish to remove the tulip bulbs after the blooming period; as you may wish to move them to a different location or plant something else in their place for the season; you must label them and dry them. Store them in a cool dry place free of mice or squirrels. Good air circulation is also important. Storing them in plastic bags is not recommended as the bulbs need to be able to “breathe”.
Pests
There are a few pests and diseases that we need to be aware of. When I talk about pests, squirrels are my nemesis when it comes to tulip bulbs. I have seen them wait until the tulip blooms in the spring
to dig the bulbs out.
Chicken wire staked over the bulbs that were planted can help.
Slugs and rabbits are other predators that like tulips. You can use slug traps if slugs are problem in your garden. Rabbits, primarily the Eastern Cottontail rabbit, can destroy vegetable gardens and any tender plants. They regularly chew the leaves of my tulip plants as they first emerge from the soil. You can fence a garden of course or you can plant an herb border around plants that you are trying to protect.
Rabbits don’t like strong scents so perennial herbs like chives and lavender will help deter them.
Some annuals such as Marigolds (Tagetes) and Snapdragons (Antirrhinum) started indoors and the seedlings planted next to late blooming tulip bulbs can also help deter rabbits. Some perennial plants planted near the tulip bed help discourage rabbits as well.
These are Artemisia, Iris, Stachy’s (Lamb’s Ears) as well as Allium bulbs.
Pots of mint have a strong scent but because of its tendency to spread rapidly it should remain in a pot.
Diseases
Tulip Fire, Gray Bulb rot and TBV are the most common diseases in tulips. Tulip Fire shows itself once the plant is above the ground. Tulips are the only plant that is affected by this fungus. Botrytis tulipae is the fungus causing the disease known as tulip fire. Infection results from injury to bulbs either due to insect damage or careless handling of the bulbs. Symptoms become apparent when leaves appear and
remain visible until the foliage dies.
Gray bulb rot is associated with tulip crown rot, and both are caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia tuliparum. In addition to tulips, gray bulb rot can also infect many other spring bulbs. Both diseases result in the tulip bulbs appearing discoloured to gray and withered. When bulbs are infected with gray bulb rot, it is common for most of the plants to fail to sprout. Plants infected with gray bulb rot that do sprout will normally mature more slowly than normal and tend to shrivel and succumb to the disease before they have a chance to blossom.
Tulips infected with these diseases will have brown discolored areas of dead tissue on their foliage or petals. The foliage of infected plants may also be distorted in shape or twisted.
Prevention of Bulb Rot and Tulip Fire
Too much nitrogen in fertilizer can increase the risk of bulb rot. You could consider using low-nitrogen fertilizer on your bulbs. All tools and equipment that you use in the garden should be regularly cleaned and sanitized to prevent the spread of fungus. TBV Tulip breaking virus infects the bulb of the tulip and changes the colour of the petals. This change depends on the strain of the virus, the type of plant and the age of the plant when it gets infected. Tulip breaking virus causes differences in the pigments in the flowers.
The virus infects the bulb and causes the cultivar to "break" its lock on a single colour, resulting in intricate bars, stripes or streaks of different colours on the petals. The virus was proved to be transferred by at least four species of aphids. Insecticides are not very effective.
Viruses are with a plant for life, the only prevention is to remove infected bulbs. Lilies may also host these viruses without noticeable symptoms
. It would be best not to plant lilies and tulips together.
“Ontario Judging and Exhibiting Standards”
(OJES 2019) gives us the 8 types of tulips we may find on our show tables on page 104 and 105.
They are: Double
Fringed
Lily-type
Multiflora
Parrot
Single
Species/species hybrid
Viridiflora
Exhibiting Tips - in addition to tips in OJES page 105
1. Tulips continue to grow after they are cut so if you enter tulips in a show that lasts more than one day you may want to make sure to take this into consideration.
2. Tulips once cut, are thirsty plants.
3. Single tulips when being exhibited need to be 1\4 to 1\2 open. They often close up in lower light conditions.
