Tulipa saxitilis

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net
Thu, 15 Sep 2005 13:45:10 PDT
Dennis wrote: "Not quite SE USA, but this species performs great for me in
Cincinnati."

Dennis, are you sure it is Tulipa saxatilis you have and not Tulipa bakeri
'Lilac Wonder'? 

I'm asking this because Tulipa saxatilis has never been a success here in my
Maryland garden. The foliage, which is generally fully developed by early
winter, is almost always completely destroyed during the winter unless
protected. Last winter for the first time I brought through a full clutch of
Tulipa saxatilis foliage by covering it carefully during the worst of the
winter. 

We do not have reliable snow cover during the coldest weeks of the winter
when temperatures can drop to between zero to ten above F. 

I've seen 'Lilac Wonder', a slightly bigger but otherwise similar plant in
local gardens, and have been told that it is fully hardy and reliable in
this area.  

Has anyone else had long range success with undoubted Tulipa saxatilis as a
garden plant in the middle-Atlantic states, north-eastern states or adjacent
Canada? And does my impression about the better hardiness and reliability of
Tulipa bakeri 'Lilac Wonder' as a garden plant agree with the observations
of others? 

Jim McKenney
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, probably not much like Crete.


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