Tulips in the Cottage Garden

Jolly Dutch flowers, rejoicing in showers,
Drink! ere the pageant of Spring passes by!

arthur guiterman

Tulips in the Cottage Garden. April 15, 2025.

Goblets of pink, yellow, and cream filled with the wine of sunshine stand perfectly still on their tall green stems, bringing an air of classical elegance to the garden. Tulips are among our most traditional of flowers as can be seen from the waves of tulips decorating gardens all around. When tulips show up, we know that Spring has arrived. They sway in our bluff winds resuming their upright posture in between not a petal out of place. Theirs is a no-nonsense atmosphere amongst their tidy clusters and rows- I almost feel I need to tip toe by them. Whisper only. And yet these serious flowers are so beautiful and yet they come with a dramatic history.

A Most Popular Flower

Tulip mania of the Dutch Golden Age was a real event several centuries ago. In the newborn era of botany, enthusiastic botanists of the 17th century were fascinated with multicolored tulips and many attempted to recreate their own colorful tulips. Of course, this created a demand for tulips to experiment with to say nothing of tulip’s current popularity in gardens. That demand grew dramatically with people paying a great deal for bulbs in this period. One man was said to have paid with 12 acres of land for a single bulb. But this lucrative economic bubble couldn’t last forever and burst after 3 years. All was not lost though, and the Netherlands still remains the primary producer of bulbs to this day. On a side note, it also turns out that multicolored tulips were a product of a disease that caused these color variations.

The tulip does not look like the typical cottage garden flower and yet it is. Tulips do not run riotous like honeysuckle or rambling roses although they can naturalize and spread. They aren’t frilly as the snapdragons, carnations and stock. They have no friendly faces such as the daisy. Tulips stand alone and self-assured, knowing their unique beauty is unlike any other and they continue to remain highly sought after centuries later. They come in thousands of varieties and shapes, continuing to remain prominent in garden culture around the world. They are even edible. The bulbs were eaten in the Netherlands in the latter part of WW 2 when a particularly harsh winter in 1944-45 left many starving. Not particularly delicious to eat, but it was all they had in some cases.

Growing Tulips in the Cottage Garden

Showing up every Spring around Easter, tulips are naturally associated with our Lord’s Resurrection. Their legacy is one of rebirth after winter’s death just as the Lord returned from death in the grave to give us the gift of salvation. I look at tulips as a steady presence of hope which brings its own sense of peace to the garden. This year I planted enough bulbs to have a large display in the garden as well as a bouquet of tulips at the Easter table.

Tulips are not hard to grow and are a good beginner’s flower. They do require full sun; however, bulbs should be in a sheltered and well-draining area to avoid fungus and disease. Make sure to dig the bulbs down deep, about 6-8 inches, with pointy end up later in Autumn, but before it freezes. I have learned from experience how much squirrels love to munch on tulip bulbs, so be forewarned and have critter netting and red hot cayenne pepper ready to keep the bulbs safe over the winter. If you live in a dry area you will need to water the bulbs until freezing temps set in. Don’t cut back the tulips until the leaves turn yellow and die. This allows the bulb to build its energy supply and potentially naturalize.

Some of my favorite tulips are ones that boast peony-like blooms and are stunning in the garden include the creamy yellow Avant Garde, Mount Tacoma, Double Northcap, Dreamer and Angelique. Angelique can have several heads on one stem making them especially lovely! These are all wonderful cut flowers and are beautiful for the garden!

Have a beautiful day!

Sources used:

• https://amsterdamtulipmuseum.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
• https://www.almanac.com/plant/tulips
• https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-tulips/

tulips in the cottage garden