Tulip
Tulipa
Tall Darwin hybrid tulips hold big glossy cups high on strong stems in April and May, at their best massed in a bed or along a walk. Plant bulbs deep in fall in sun and well-drained soil; deer and squirrels go after them, and they bloom best the first spring, so many gardeners replant each fall.
- Mature size
- 2 ft × 6 in
- 0.6 × 0.1 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Medium
- Blooms
- Apr–May
Tulip at its mature size
A mature Tulip grows to about 2 ft tall and 6 in wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Longfield Gardens, Eden Brothers.
Through the year
What Tulip looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Below ground · Jul–Feb
Dormant below ground from early summer until spring; draw nothing.
New growth · Mar
Broad grey-green leaves pushing up from the ground with a closed green bud, no colour yet.
In flower · Apr–May
One big red cup on a tall stem above the leaves.
In leaf · Jun
Flower gone, leaves yellowing and flopping as the bulb goes dormant.
Growing Tulip
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Midwest, the Plains and Mountain West, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Leaves
- Dies back in winter
- Native to
- Garden hybrid (Central Asian species)
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Tulip, that’s about 6 in apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Tulip in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.