Mark McDonough: The well known super-hero, "The Onion Man" (aka Mark McDonough), has had a lingering interest in smaller tulip species. Allium and an astounding "Allium Central" are featured on his well-worth-the-visit-website (http://www.plantbuzz.com/). The site shows much more and suggests his wide knowledge. This introduction should intensify the bulb wishes of February topics. Dwarf Tulipa by Mark McDonough I've never been a fan of tulips, finding them too tall and fancy, the foliage corpulent and unrefined. The flowers are sumptuous to be sure, but that's beside the point. I plant 'Red Emperor' and 'Yellow Emperor' for my mom; she adores them. In 3-4 years hence, I must dig them out, the waning bulbs sputtering feeble distorted foliage and few diminished blooms, to be replaced with freshly planted Holland-grown bulbs. And the cycle continues. Rock gardeners tend to shun tulips, the allure of growing them spoiled by centuries of selection and over hybridization. We think of tulips as bedding plants suitable for seasonal floral display in parks, corporate landscapes, and botanical gardens; definitely not for the rock garden in the true sense. Even the lovely Tulipa greigii-kaufmanniana hybrids, dwarf enough for rock garden consideration, are still too portly and ostentatious for inclusion. Instead, we rock gardeners prefer to grow "species crocus" (not the inflated Dutch crocus, absolutely not), dwarf narcissus (but with Narcissus, even full sized daffodils are admissible), dwarf reticulata iris, galanthus, scilla, muscari, any fritillary that will grow, no matter the size, and various other "minor bulbs". The enlightened also grow Allium <grin>. Tulipa species are poorly represented in rock gardens, perhaps not because they are deliberately shunned, but because we fail to consider them. It wasn't until recent years that I discovered the charm of dwarf Tulipa species. Reluctantly I tried a couple species with the conviction bulbs would fizzle out in a few years, as their fancy brethren do. But they didn't fizzle out, and instead continued to grow, increase, and flower reliably for many years without signs of decline. Dwarf species Tulips are now among my favorite bulbs, and my journey in search of dwarf Tulipa is just beginning. I still hold the line at Tulipa species with coarse fat foliage, preferring instead those that are less "tulip-like", with smaller concise herbage, fascinatingly undulate basal leaves, or fine linear strands of gray or green vegetation. Tulipa photo gallery: ============== To see photographs of dwarf Tulipa, you can click on the link below to view a photo gallery assembled in support of this topic of the week. There are also links to nurseries that sell most or all of the species I've showcased here. <http://plantbuzz.com/RockGard/Bulbs/…>http://ww.com/ http://w.plantbuzz.com/RockGard/Bulbs/… ...or go to <http://www.plantbuzz.com/>http://www.plantbuzz.com/ and click on the Dwarf Tulipa link. At the end of this message are more links to Tulipa images, as well a few bibliographic citations and bulb sources. Tulipa Taxonomy ============ Tulipa taxonomy exists in a rather confused state; not surprising given the large number of species, possibly numbering as high as 150. The species are mostly found in central Asia, but are also found in Europe to China. The most significant treatment, "The Genus Tulipa" by A. D. Hall in 1940, is considered outdated and in need of a revision. There are smaller regional works and other scientific studies that piecemeal the genus together. Researching a variety of web sites, botanical publications, and taxonomic references, the Tulipa names I've used in this message represent a consensus of recent taxonomic opinion as best I can determine. Of course, there's lots of room for dissenting opinion :-) I gravitate towards web sites like <http://www.hoogdix.com/>http://www.hoogdix.com/<http://www.hoogdix.com/>.<http://www.ho.com/ ogdix.com/>com because their descriptive listing of Tulipa species and cultivars is among the most thorough around; a reference in itself. Since this company, along with Van Tubergen, were directly responsible for the introduction of many Tulipa species and cultivars, the brief historical anecdotes on each variety offers more insight than what can be found elsewhere. Some Tulipa species & cultivars I grow: ============================ 1. Tulipa polychroma Thinking about Tulipa, one conjures up visions of blazing red and yellow tones, possibly too brash for those who like more subdued hues. So I start at the opposite end of the spectrum with my favorite; T. polychroma, a refined miniature just 2 - 3" (5 - 7.5 cm) tall in bloom, with white star-cups, clean as snow inside but with yolk-yellow centers, the exterior of the blooms serenely touched with pale gray-olive and a hint of rose. The foliage is light gray, narrow and channeled. The early blooms (in March) are deliciously scented, luring me to lie on the muddy ground to take in the perfume. This species, in the Biflores section of Tulipa, has two to several flowers per stem. 2. Tulipa 'Little Princess' This is a hybrid between T. hageri and T. aucheriana. Both of those species has been in question, but remain as valid species in the most recent taxonomic positions I found references for. A stunning miniature tulip that has universal appeal. The flowers are full and open, greeting the sun, a fascinating coppery orange color with an abrupt ring of yellow encircling a brooding center of dark black-green. The anthers are very large, black, and conspicuously ornamental. The outside of the blooms show lighter melon colors. The lightly fragrant flowers age to Chinese red in about two weeks after first opening. Only 3 - 5" tall (7.5 - 12.5 cm) in flower, later elongating a couple more inches. 3. Tulipa tarda A bright species that'll increase and come back year after year to produce quantities of cheerful little yellow, white-tipped flowers. The photos in my Tulipa gallery show a planting now well over 10 years old, but still making a grand show each spring. The egg-hued blooms only open in full sun, have a light fragrance, and are olive-backed when the flowers are closed tight under low-light conditions. Up to 8 flowers per 5" stem and are olive-backed when the flowers are closed tight under low-light conditions. Up to 8 flowers per 5" stem are produced, accounting for it's floriferous habit. Tulipa biflora, turkestanica, and the aforementioned T. polychroma, are all in the same Biflores Section, each species recognized as valid. 4. Tulipa batalinii This species seems an enigma, but I'm not sure why. It's the opinion of some, this is really a yellow color form of red-flowered T. linifolia. They say, it's in the "linifolia - Batalinii group", whatever that means taxonomically. There are indeed similarities, but lumping these together as a single entity doesn't seem an obvious conclusion. Checking recent taxonomic opinion to ascertain consensus, it appears that T. batalinii and T. linifolia are two distinct species, both members of the closely allied Clusianae Section of Tulipa. T. batalinii has been in cultivation for a long time, as has T. linifolia. The beautiful cultivar known as T. batalinii 'Bronze Charm' is said to be a hybrid between the two species, first introduced by the Holland bulb firm of Van Tubergen, responsible for introducing a number of Tulipa species and cultivars. Photographs of batalinii 'Bronze Charm' and linifolia are found on my photo gallery prepared for this ATOW. Some observations between the two species (from plants I've grown) - batalinii has linear, acuminate, undulate foliage. - linifolia has linear, nearly lorate, foliage, that can be undulate - batalinii has urceolate (lily shaped) flowers - linifolia has flowers that open flat - batalinii has full flowers, but not rotate - linifolia has full flowers that are rotate - batalinii has pale yellow to medium yellow flowers - linifolia has shining, intense red flowers - batalinii has 3 distinct inner petals, and 3 differently shaped outer petals. - linifolia has all 6 petals ~ uniformly shaped and sized - batalinii does not have a distinct central eye - linifolia has a distinct jet-black central eye Personally I find the two species instantly recognizable and distinct, yet some schools of thought put these two entities together as synonyms. 5. Tulipa bakeri 'Lilac Wonder' Pretty lilac-pink flowers and yolk-yellow centers, in small but substantial classic cup-shaped blooms. The foliage is too chubby for my taste, visually detracting from this medium-sized "dwarf" tulip. When buying Holland-grown bulbs in nursery center bulb bins each autumn, it seems this Tulipa is a frequent usurper of other species, the bulbs oftentimes mixed in with other varieties. 6. Tulipa humilis The name can represent a whole cluster of species, depending on one's viewpoint, in the Saxatiles Section of the genus. It has the same coloring as T. bakeri, typically a nice bright pink with a prominent yellow center. This species is dwarfer than bakeri, growing 4 - 6" (10 - 15 cm) tall, with upright starry flowers. The leaves are more refined, being small, linear, and grayish. According to some authors, T. humilis subsumes such species as aucheriana, pulchella, and violacea, but recent botanical works have recognized each as valid species. Bulbs of T. humilis and many of it's varieties are often available inexpensively. 6a. Tulipa humilis 'Albo Coerulea Oculata' (correctly T. violacea var. pallida) It is here among the variable humilis group of allied species, that we have the famous T. humilis 'Albo Coerulea Oculata', a gorgeous thing with open, starry white flowers sporting steel blue centers. It's "to die for". About 3 - 4" in bloom (7.5 - 10 cm). This plant is found under a bewildering array of synonyms and variant names. To the best of my knowledge, it is correctly identified as Tulipa violacea var. pallida. But also look for it as T. pulchella albocoerulea oculata, T. pulchella caerulea, T. humilis alba caerulea, and many other name permutations! The bulbs, when obtainable, cost about $5 - $8 U.S. each! Check the links posted on my Dwarf Tulipa gallery for a couple bulb sources for this beauty. Splurge and get 5-6 bulbs; it's worth the investment. Some photo links are listed below. 7. Tulipa stellata ssp. chrysantha Inexpensively available where better selections of Holland bulbs are sold, this brilliant species is usually labeled simply as T. chrysantha. It's also been considered a variety of T. clusiana, and listed as T. clusiana var. chrysantha, sometimes offered for sale under that name. It's a charming dwarf species with neat basal foliage that is small, narrow and trim, with tightly held buds which in low light show the cinnabar red backs of the petals, metamorphosing into surprisingly large, flat, starry blooms of pure yellow after a couple hours of strong sunshine. It pairs nicely with the electric red T. linifolia. Both this species and T. linifolia are in the Clusianae section of Tulipa. 8. Tulipa linifolia I particularly like the fullness of the blooms on this species, rendering a nearly circular or rotate flower profile when fully opened on warm sunny days. The broad petals reflex backwards, abruptly contracted into a fine point, giving a most distinctive appearance. The flowers, on 4 - 5" (10 - 12.5 cm) stems, have a satiny, light-reflective sheen, and a jet black center to each flower. Flowers in April the same time as T. stellata ssp. chrysantha. Tulipa species & cultivars I want to grow: ============================= There are a large number of desirable dwarf tulipa for the rock garden. It would be tedious to list them all, but here are some that are on my mind: a. T. celsiana - low or prostrate glossy green leaves, and lots of starry yellow flowers, stained red on the outside. The Van Tubergen link below has a good color photo. 10 - 15 cm. b. T. clusiana cultivars - this species is the namesake for the Clusianae section of Tulipa, famous as the 'Lady Tulip'. All varieties are charming, the basic theme being white, cream, yellow, or pinkish flowers, strongly banded with crimson on the exterior. Most varieties grow 8 - 12" (20 - 30 cm). c. T. dasystemon - the true plant is hard to come by. This species, allied to T. tarda, is usually misidentified in cultivation and usurped by T. tarda itself. The true species has blue-green leaves and bright yellow flowers, without the white tips as in T. tarda. About 4" tall (10 cm). d. T. kurdica - here you have an extremely dwarf species, with very narrow straps of foliage and nearly stemless cranberry red flowers sitting nearly stemless. e. T. 'Little Beauty' - a great looking miniature with small, moody, red-purplish-tinted cups. Only 4" (10 cm) tall. There is a very good photo of on the Van Tubegen web site... see link below. f. T. montana (syn. T. wilsoniana) - a small refined species with show-stopping chalice-shaped red-orange flowers on mere 4" - 6" stems (10 - 15 cm). g. T. schrenkii - growing 3" - 4" tall (7.5 - 10 cm), with scarlet flowers and an orange margin. h. T. sylvestris - stoloniferously increasing species with semi-nodding starry flowers of golden yellow, tinged greenish on the exterior. Said to be strongly fragrant. Looks to be a delightful species; see the Van Tubergen link below. i. T. turkestanica - (syn. bifloriformis Vved.) - The photo on the Van Tubergen web site (see link below) shows a most graceful and desirable species, with cream-white flowers with yellow-orange centers. The reflexed and nodding flowers have a strong resemblance to an Erythronium species. Grows 8 - 12" (20 - 30 cm). j. T. vvedenskyi - There are several named forms of this species. Has the appearance of a "classic tulip" in form, but smaller, and growing 8" - 12" tall (20 - 30 cm) with bright orange and yellow flowers. *************** I'm only just getting started with Tulipa species. Please share with us your favorites. Are Tulipa species short-lived in your experience, as the books say, or are they more permanent than generally credited? Know of any good taxonomic references for the genus? *************** Selected Dwarf Tulipa - Internet links. (in no particular order) ========================== Van Tubergen Bulb company <http://vantubergen.co.uk/vtub/dept.asp/…>http://www.vantuberge.com/ http://n.co.uk/vtub/dept.asp?dept_id=55 (Good images of such species as T. celsiana, turkestanica, 'Little Beauty', "clusiana chrysantha", sylvestris, and others) <http://www.hoogdix.com/>http://www.hoogdix.com/ Click on: descriptive catalog > click on Tulipa (large and informative listing of Tulipa species and cultivars) Paul Christian <http://rareplants.co.uk/tulipa/>http://rareplants.co.uk/tulipa/<http://rarep.com/ http://lants.co.uk/tulipa/>/ BulbMeister.com <http://bulbmeister.com/flowershop/fpl2003/…>http://www.bulbme.com/ http://ister.com/flowershop/fpl2003/page10.html The National Tulip Collection at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden <http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/Tulipa.html>http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/Tulip/ a.html Tulipa "bifloriformis" ( = turkestanica) <http://gartendatenbank.de/pflanzen/tulipa/…>http://www.gartendat.com/ http://enbank.de/pflanzen/tulipa/a009.htm Pacific Rim native Plant Nursery <http://www.hillkeep.ca/bulbs%20tulipa.htm>http://www.hillkeep.ca/bulbs%20tu/ lipa.htm Odyssey Bulbs <http://odysseybulbs.com/scillatoveltheimia.html/>http://www.odysseybulbs.com/ .com/scillatoveltheimia.html John Lonsdale's Edgewood Gardens John Lonsdale has some very good images of selected Tulipa species. <http://edgewoodgardens.net/Plant%20Galleries/… lipa>http://edgewoodgardens.net/Plant%20Galleries/… e\Tulipa Tulipa kurdica - a very dwarf red-flowered species <http://alpinegardensociety.org/shows/results/… s/Trevor_Jones/sizedMVC-007S.JPG.html>http://www.alpinegardensociety.org/sho/ ws/results/shows2003/shows/KENT/images/Trevor_Jones/sizedMVC-007S.JPG.html Tulipa humilis alba caerulea (= T. violacea var. pallida) Good close-up photograph by: Cliff Booker Posted: 26.04.03, 23:46:52 <http://home.no.net/alpenpix/board/… 52>http://home.no.net/alpenpix/board/board.php<http://home.no.net/alpenpix/b/ oard/board.php?action=read&id_board=030426234652>?action=read&id_board=03042 6234652 Beautiful view of Tulipa humilis 'Alba Caerulea Oculata' ( = T. violacea var. pallida) Pacific Rim Native Plant Nursery <http://www.hillkeep.ca/bulbs%20tulipa.htm>http://www.hillkeep.ca/bulbs%20tu/ lipa.htm http://hillkeep.ca/images/… oemer.jpg Small thumbnail sized images of Tulipa species and other bulbs available at: <http://www.botanicus.nu/index.php?menu=007>http://www.botanicus.nu/index.ph p?menu=007 The Reticulata Iris guy, Alan McMurtrie, Ontario CA, has some nice Tulipa photos: <http://www.reticulatas.com/HardyBulbs/index.html>http://www.reticulatas.com/ /HardyBulbs/index.html http://www.reticulatas.com/HardyBulbs/Tulip-1.html <http://www.reticulatas.com/HardyBulbs/Tulip-2.html>http://www.reticulatas.c/ om/HardyBulbs/Tulip-2.html http://www.reticulatas.com/HardyBulbs/Tulip-3.html <http://www.reticulatas.com/HardyBulbs/Tulip-4.html>http://www.reticulatas.c/ om/HardyBulbs/Tulip-4.html article on tulipa species <http://canoe.ca/HGGardening_PlantGardenPlants/…>http:/ /http://canoe.ca/HGGardening_PlantGardenPlants/… tulipa gallery (in German, but some nice photos) <http://gartendatenbank.de/pflanzen/tulipa/…>http://www.gartenda.com/ http://tenbank.de/pflanzen/tulipa/index.htm Nursery source: Fraser's Thimble Farms, BC Canada <http://www.thimblefarms.com/sbulb6.html>http://www.thimblefarms.com/sbulb6/. html Dwarf Bulbs, by Brian Mathew, 1973 - contains a brief but most useful enumeration of species. There are several other excellent books by Brian Mathew covering Tulipa. The Random House of Bulbs, by Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix, 1989 - an indispensable photographic guide to bulbs of all sorts, but of course, a good selection of Tulipa. Czechoslovakian Tulipa species study - includes a few pages in English and botanical latin names; representing a recent partial taxonomic summary of species, synonyms, and Sections of related species. <http://genbank.vurv.cz/genetic/resources/…>http://genban.com/ http://k.vurv.cz/genetic/resources/….<http://genbank.vurv.cz/genetic/ /resources/documents/Tulipa.pdf>pdf Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5 ============================================== >> web site under construction - http://www.plantbuzz.com/ << alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western american alpines, iris, plants of all types! + dwarf Tulipa! Note from Mary Sue: Our wiki wasn't mentioned, but it has some nice pictures too: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 E-fax 419-781-8594 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +